


Aizen's Kingdom

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Series: UFC Works [2]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Aizen Sousuke Wins, Angst, Four Shiba Siblings, Gen, Gin & Toushirou - Father/Son (Biological), Horror, Isshin Taicho, Kuorsaki Ichigo is a Shiba, Prompt 143 - Kingdom, Rangiku & Toushirou - Mother/Son (Biological), Tenth Division Taicho, The Ultimate Fanfic Challenge 200 Prompts, alternative universe, false reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-18
Updated: 2011-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 26,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24990487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: (Prompt 143 - Kingdom) Gin understood full well that he had failed to stop Aizen. The kingdom that Aizen choose to create ended up being a complete and utter nightmare where supposedly no one remembered other then Gin.
Relationships: Ichimaru Gin/Matsumoto Rangiku
Series: UFC Works [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809079
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8
Collections: (Prompts) The Ultimate Fanfic Challenge 200 Prompts, Bleach: Four Shiba, Bleach: Tenth Division Captain Isshin, Bleach: Toushirou's Parents Are..., Platonic Relationships





	1. The Ruining of the World

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I don't own Bleach.

Every so often, Gin would hear a dripping sound at the back of his mind, deep from inside his inner world. The dripping sound was of the poisonous waters dripping from the roof down into the deep, cold pool that he kept having to clean out. The man wasn't blind to the fact that he was in fact messed up, but he choose to push it aside as he had brought his mental state on himself.

In his mind, everything was worth the actions he was now going to take, simply because it meant that his life would finally conform to the path that he believed his life should have taken ever so long ago. Unlike Rangiku, he couldn't as easily forget what they had once had and he found himself stepping out of the mire in an attempt to bring back that solitude he wanted.

However, the man now found himself trying to fight off the poisonous worry that ate at the back of his mind. His zampaktuo spoke up, hissing in his head. "If you mess up, then you mess up for not just yourself, but the persons you care for. Don't let Aizen get to you, don't let him think you are backing down. Don't let him win."

Moments later, he found himself with his back on the ground, staring up at the sky, wondering why he had gone the route he had gone. The next thing he knew too, Rangiku was over his body, looking down upon him, tears falling down onto his face. "I made it so that you couldn't smile again, Ran-chan." He then found himself drifting away, into his inner world.

The place was a huge cave, a massive purple behemoth with cesspools down at the bottom, that the poison from the roof dripped into. Gin found himself staring up at the ceiling, his eyes narrowed like they normally were, his mind not even attempting to look for his zampaktuo spirit, knowing full well that he would be in for a major lecture.

"Ichimaru..." The hissing sound came to his ears and the man found himself turning his head to look at the dragon that floated around in the air. The creature was thin like him, but also small and lavender in color. Among the scales were spots where fur stuck out. The head was also not reptilian, but that of a fox. The creature glided down to stand on the cave floor, its tongue sticking out. "You failed."

"I know that I did. I don't need to be reminded of this." Ichimaru glanced up at the ceiling, then folded his arms across his chest. "I choose to erase all emotions that I had, to protect what I most cared about. I kept those poisonous things in here, where no one could reach them, or make me feel them. And yet I failed."

"I don't think you were devoid of emotion. If you were, then the poison would not still be dripping from the roof." The snake like fox dragon suddenly glided over and slid up Ichimaru's shoulder. "That said, do you wish to see the likely progress that Aizen is making out there?"

This caused the man to open up his eyes just as the dragon moved over to a pond. Ichimaru sat down at the edge, looking in to see if anything would occur. What he saw was his body, badly mangled which caused him to let out a hissing sound. "I don't want to see that I've failed. I want to see if that creepy kid has managed to stop Aizen, where I couldn't."

The vision then began to drift around, causing him to catch glimpses of Rangiku and the group of kids who Aizen had tried to go after. He also saw the former captain of the tenth division, Shiba Isshin upon the ground, which caused the silver haired man to raise an eyebrow. "If Aizen took him out, then chances are Kurosaki couldn't pass the muster."

The vision then fell upon Aizen making attacks on the substitute shinigami. What Gin saw cased his eyes go wide and his jaw to drop open. Whether this was real or not, he couldn't help but think the thought that he did. "We're doomed. Aizen is going to alter the world to become something that we hate and loath, a place we can no longer live in."

The pool then began to fill with a reddish blood color, which caused Ichimaru to back away. The earth began to shake and he couldn't help but glance up in time to see rocks falling from the cave ceiling. "I guess Aizen has succeeded in creating his kingdom, one where we are all slaves to his whim."


	2. Appearance of the Kingdom

After a short period of time, everything when blank and a blankness suddenly enveloped him. His mind felt like he wanted to go towards the light, but he personally figured he didn't deserve to have any light shown on him, due to everything he had done to succeed at his plan. His skin felt a cold numbness as he wondered if everything was worth it in the long run.

" _You'll be luck to even be alive in the other world._ " Shinso's words came across rather pragmatic, not to mention the zampaktuo seemed rather irate with him. " _Because while everyone else will have the status of slave, Aizen is going to think of you worse then dirt. Well, at least you have the consolation of that man not knowing your secret._ "

" _What exactly is that supposed to mean?_ " Gin's thoughts though knew full well what the spirit meant and he fully understood why said spirit choose not to answer. A sudden trepidation came to his mind, just as his vision began to focus on the gray light that was spreading to his mind. He blinked a couple of times, noticing that he was in a throne room.

The first thing he noticed was the man on the throne, sitting there and glowering at him in triumph. This caused Ichimaru to glance at the ground, not at all sure what was going on. Aizen though spoke up in the dimly lit throne room, his voice mocking the man in front of him. "Did you actually think that I would make it so that you didn't exist in this world, Ichimaru?"

At that, the man glanced up, noticing that a small female was attached to the man's arm. She was dressed in skimpy clothing and her thin arms were wrapped around Aizen's while she fawned upon the man. The brown eyes were dulled over, as if the person no longer had a soul of their own. Upon seeing Hinamori Momo like this, Gin's eyes darted back to the ground.

Swallowing, he found himself speaking up, his voice bitter about the whole situation. "Let me guess, you wish to punish me for my actions, make me squirm for being a traitor to you?"

"What are you talking about Gin? I don't remember you ever planning something that amounted as treason against Soul Societies king." The man on the throne then reached a hand over to pat the small female on the head. "Do you remember something along those lines, Momo-chan? I think you, my pet... will have remembered something like that."

At that, the female turned her eyes towards Ichimaru, then rapidly shook her head. Ichimaru then found himself asking the question. "Why is she this way?"

This caused Aizen to suddenly slap the female on the rear, ordering her away from the room. Hinamori stood up and slid from the room, her walk the procreative kind. When she had slipped into the back room, Aizen smirked at Ichimaru. "See, here is the thing. I can choose where everyone went in this life time, and I choose them fitting judgment on their past life."

"With Hinamori Momo, you and I both know that she couldn't live without me. So, in this world it happens to be the same. Instead of ending up with her grandmother, she ended up upon the death of her parents being sold by one of her uncles, who was desperate for money to take care of her own family. She ended up in my care, and I've groomed her since she was a child. Her body is prepared to become fully mine in a few days."

"Bastard." Gin spat out the words, his lips pushing together, but then stopped, his eyes falling to the ground.

"Is that the way to speak to your king Ichimaru?" Aizen raised an eyebrow, then stood up and walked over to where his former subordinate from the world stood. He then grabbed a beaker and splashed it into Ichimaru's face.

"Sake? Are you trying to poison me?" The silver haired man spluttered through his words, frustration growing in his mind.

"Weren't you the one who was trying to poison me?" The so called king spoke up, a darkness in his eyes making it seem like he was unapproachable. "I mean, you did try in the past world and failed. Just think of it this way, Hinamori got the wish she wanted. I was actually able to dole out everyone's wishes I think. That is the true will of the hogyoku, for everyone's wishes to be granted. You can like it if you want or not."

Ichimaru continued to glower at the man, frustration appearing on his face. He suddenly found himself grabbed from behind, and he turned his face to see Tousen standing behind him. "Do you wish for me to dispose of this man?"

"Does he remember the other world?" Gin snapped the words out, wondering why Tousen was still siding with this particular man in this particular world.

Aizen though remained cool and calm, and then let out a deep sigh. "You know how he is when he gets drinking, he rambles about random stuff, like other worlds. Actually, he has started rambling about such things of late, without getting drunk. Just take him home and get him out of my site. I am quite sure that his family would be glad to see him."

At that point, Ichimaru found himself dragged out of the room, as he glowered at Aizen, wanting to spit upon the man and kill him. However, something deep down told him that the rules were different in this world. Glancing over at Tousen, he decided to pose a question. "Ney, what do I usually ramble on about?"

"You ramble on about such things as substitute soul reapers, a dragon named Hyorinmaru and many other things. You have to remember that Aizen is a god and what he says is law. If he says that I am to kill you, I will kill you not caring that your family will morn your death. Sometimes I don't think you care about what emotional trauma they will have to go through.


	3. Home Sweet Home

As Ichimaru felt himself pulled out of the palace, he carefully took note of everything that happened around him. The lighting honestly didn't help things, as the sun was setting upon the place and there seemed to be a lot of dark corners. The buildings were also different from the Soul Society he knew. It wasn't that they were more modern, or more historic when it came to Japan's history, but instead they seemed to be more stifling.

Finally, they came to the gate, where the giant guardian stood. The man gave them a salute, his smile big as ever, almost as if nothing had changed. Ichimaru though knew things full well had changed from the way that they once were, as he had already seen Aizen on the throne, not to mention Hinamori Momo as part of a potential harem.

They traveled from the gates and down a path that he found all to familiar. Wincing, he noticed that he was getting closer to the village he had grown up in, the one he had run away from at a young age, to a deeper part of soul society. Letting out a sigh, he half expected the people to chide him, to call him a monster like they once had.

However, the whispers the villagers stated came across differently, much to his repulsion. They would mummer something about how he was stuck under the thumb of the tyrant king, not to mention other things of pity. Ichimaru felt like spitting on the ground, but held back lest he give Tousen cause to do bodily harm

They arrived at the small house, that was on the edge of the village and he then found himself thrown into the room, just in time to see a small, elderly female look up at him. "You are home early, Gin."

"Hello, oka-san." The man stated, his tone rather dry and not at all humored about the situation. " _I thought Aizen DIDN'T know my secret._ "

Tousen though, suddenly hit Gin in the back of the head, giving him a good hard blow. "You need to learn to better respect your elders." The man then turned his now seeing eyes to the old woman, bowing his head in politeness to her. "I apologize for having to bring home your son yet again, drunk."

At that, the elderly woman let out a deep sigh. "You forgot to pick up your pay again, not to mention the medicine you were supposed to pick up."

"I'm sorry that I forgot your medicine, oka-san." Ichimaru let out a deep breath, frustration becoming apparent in his voice.

"My medicine?" The woman gave him a worried look, then glanced over to a curtained area. "Gin, how can you not remember who that medicine was for? This has been getting worse and worse, these mutterings of yours. We just want you back with us. You are lucky that Ran-chan is out and that child is still asleep so they can't see you in this state."

"By the way, where is Rangiku?" The question came fast as the man wished for the nagging feeling that something was wrong, would simply go away.

"I don't think you want to know that question." Tousen spoke up, his tone rather dark. "Rumor has it that she has been prostituting herself out to certain people, simply because you have a problem remembering to bring home what wages you don't have docked during the week."

At that, Ichimaru let out a hiss of frustration, only to have his mother speak up. "I have Rangiku's word that she is not doing such a thing. Please, don't say such a thing in front of the child, where he might hear you. He has enough problems with the children who like to come around and tease him while you are gone."

"Do we have money so that I can go get the medicine?" Gin smiled at the woman, only to have him suddenly snap at her.

"You aren't going out like that, bringing a disgrace to us for drinking while on the job! Think of that boy!" The old woman shook her head, then turned to Tousen. "I know that you are busy, but do you possibly have time to run an errand for me?"

She placed the needed coin into the dark hand, and Kaname spoke up, irritating Ichimaru as he did so. "The only reason I am doing this, is because I worry about what this fools actions will do to you and that young one." The man then stood up and left, leaving the silver haired man to be glared at by his mother.

"Hurry, change those clothes of yours before Rangiku gets home. She is honestly at the end of her whits with you." The old woman stated, bustling about to get some fresh clothing. "Also, that boy doesn't like the smell of alcohol on either of his parents. It upsets him because both of your personalities change when you two drink."

At that, Ichimaru loosened his shinigami robes, letting them drop to the floor. Carefully, he dressed in the other clothing, tying it on tightly. He then went and sat in the door way, watching as the sun set and trying to formulate a plan in his mind of what he should in fact do about the situation. " _There is no way I can change the world back, or is there?_ "

As he thought this, he heard a shuffling sound coming from behind the curtain. Gin turned his head, realizing it was the sound of someone waking up. Worry and dread remained at the back of his mind, as he thought about what kind of truth he would find behind the curtain. The person stirred again, and then there was a soft voice from behind the curtain, that was meant to block out the light. "Oto-san?"


	4. Bittersweet Truth

"Oto-san?" The voice from behind the curtain was overly familiar and Ichimaru found himself moving over to the place and pulling the cloth aside. Some of the left over light fell upon the child that lay on the futon. A smile spread across his face, and then two arms reached up, indicating that he wanted to be held.

Gin found himself swallowing hard, confusion spreading across his face. "Shiro-chan, aren't you a bit old for me to hold you?"

At that, two dark teal eyes blinked a couple of times, frowning as he did so. "Are you trying to tease me oto-san?"

In his mind, the silver haired man found himself flinching, because the situation honestly didn't feel right. Hitsugaya Toshiro, who had pulled himself onto his elbows to maneuver himself into a sitting position was smiling at him. The adult male's Adam's apple bobbed down, trying to fight back the emotion that was overtaking him. The last time he has seen this particular child smile had been when he was very small, a lot smaller then he was now.

The boy suddenly let out a deep breath, his mouth up turning into a frown, a look that Gin found more characteristic of the child he knew. "Oto-san, the sun is setting right now, and I can't see it unless you help me over there."

At this, shock suddenly spread across Ichimaru's face, a pained look coming to his face. "Chibi taicho, are you able to walk?"

At that, the boy frowned, letting out a soft laugh that was similar to Rangiku's, another trait that Gin hadn't heard in years. "I don't know why you are so apt to tease me today. You know full well that I can't walk, I never have been able to. Please, if mama comes home, she won't let you take me outside. She is very peculiar about this kind of thing."

At that, Gin blinked a couple of times. His pale teal eyes reflected a great deal of worry, while his mind still tried to wrap around the information it was receiving. "I am not sure that is a good idea."

"Tou-chan, you're acting funny. You've been acting funny for awhile now." The preteen let out a deep sigh as he brought his arms back down. "You've also been calling me chibi taicho, despite the fact I'll likely never be a captain of the Gotei Thirteen."

"You have the spiritual pressure to be one." Ichimaru's eyes were rather wide, his voice contorted into a frown as he tried to fight back the feelings that bothered him.

At that, Toshiro glanced at the ground. "It honestly doesn't matter if I have enough spiritual pressure to be a captain, which I don't. It's likely only at the level of a eighth seat, if even that. I can't be a shinigami if I can't walk."

"Shiro-chan, if you had the ability to walk, would you want to become a shinigami?" The silver haired man bent down, his right hand reaching out to touch the child's shoulder.

At that, a half smile came his way. "I don't see the point of asking that question, but I've always looked up to you and you're a shinigami, so I guess so."

Inwardly, Gin found himself flinching as he remembered that in the other world, this small child had wanted to never be a shinigami. However, he carefully placed on arm behind the white haired youth's back, and the other under his legs. Now wasn't the time to worry about the young ones health, not when his behavior had been different before and he was drawing attention to himself.

Upon lifting the younger male up, Gin felt suddenly sick to his stomach mentally. Last time he checked, Toshiro weighed just over sixty ponds, yet it honestly felt as if there was a ten to twenty pounds difference from what he remembered. He could also feel a few of the boy's ribs sticking out, which again caused him to mentally flinch.

Carefully, he moved out to the porch area of the house and sat down, holding the boy in his lap. Two bright teal eyes looked up at the sunlight, a nice smile spreading across his face as he watched the changing warm tones. As Ichimaru wrapped his arms across the child's frail chest area, Toshiro reached up to hold onto the arms.

Glancing down at the white haired youth's legs, the man had problems figuring out what was wrong with the boy. "Shiro-chan, can you humor me."

"I don't see why not." The boy continued to watch the sky, his body lacking any tension in the muscles.

"Let's say I am having problems remembering things about granny, your mother, you... could I ask you questions about... certain things." Gin's chin suddenly rested on top of the small child's.

"I'll play this game." The boy let out a half laugh, though the sudden tension in his body made it clear that his father's behavior of late honestly bothered him.

"Have you really never been able to walk?" Ichimaru let out a deep breath, the entire scenario frustrating him.

"My bodies always been weak. My upper body is stronger then my lower body, simply because I have to use my upper body to move what little I need to do on my own. I've been sick off and on since I was an infant and I've never been able to do things like a normal kid. I prefer you to mama, truth be told." The boy's voice began to slip away, almost as if he was falling back asleep.

"Why would that happen to be?" The silver haired man thought carefully about how Matsumoto had always been the child's favorite.

"Until recently, you always let me do things, like coming outside. One time, you took me to the river, so I could see the Fireworks that were being launched for one of the captain's birthdays. When she found out, she threw an absolute fit." Toshiro let out a laugh, and then a yawn.

"If you're tired, you should just go to sleep." Ichimaru let out a deep breath.

"Not tired." However, this response turned out to be a false answer.


	5. Enter the She Cat

A soft breeze blew past the porch as Ichimaru sat with the small child held tightly in his arms. The sun finally set and the stars came out and he found himself wishing that Toshiro would in fact wake up and look at the stars too, knowing full well that the boy liked looking up at the sky, no matter what time it was.

"I guess the innate want to touch the sky is one of the things that has remained the same." Gin suddenly said aloud. A sound on the path coming to the house caused him to suddenly look away from the spot and he saw Tousen starring at him.

"Shouldn't that child be inside?" The man then walked into the house, past Ichimaru with a package in his hands.

Letting out a deep sigh, Ichimaru scooped the child into his arms and then carried him inside to lie on the futon. Glancing over to where the dark skinned man was, he watched as the man prepared a tea with the herbs he brought with him. The man then slid the tea over to where the small child was, and glanced at Gin, indicating that he should wake his son up.

The man reached over and shook Toshiro's shoulder, which caused the boy to stir. It took a few minutes for him to stir, and then Ichimaru helped him to sit up. The boy's bright teal eye suddenly looked at the cup and his mouth twisted up. "I don't like that stuff."

"Shiro-chan, you've got to take your medicine." Gin stated, suddenly holding the cup to the child's lips, wishing that there was some way to make the boy have an actual normal life. In one life, he had been left in the role of an adult and in this world, he was left so ill that he never had the chance to run around and play with the other children.

He watched as the boy swallowed the tea, and then flopped back down on the bed, burring his head into the pillow part of the futon. He remained quiet, until Tousen dropped something next to the small child. "I brought some of your favorite."

At that, Hitsugaya grabbed the bag and pulled it towards himself and opened it up, digging inside. Ichimaru expected the boy to pull out amanatto, but instead Toshiro pulled out a piece of dried persimmon and placed it into his mouth, chewing on it before he swallowed, and then let out a mummer of a thank you.

"I thought amanatto was your favorite?" Gin shook his head, his confusion suddenly growing.

At that, the small boy glanced up at that man, a smile filled with humor plastered on his face. "Oto-san, you know that is granny's favorite."

At that, Ichimaru felt the corner of his mouth suddenly twist up, not sure what to think about the situation. However, the child quickly drifted off to sleep while Tousen waited beside him, his zampaktuo pulled away from his waist. The sun went down and the old female suddenly prodded the fire to spread more light across the room.

It was then that footsteps were heard from outside and the silver haired man found himself glancing up in time to see a rather busty female come into the room. Rangiku's blue eyes suddenly turned to him and her mouth was turned up into a frown. "Tousen-san is here again. You've been drinking again, while you were on the job, haven't you?"

"Maybe." Ichimaru stated, turning his head away, knowing for a fact that he had stepped into something far out of his control.

It was then that Rangiku grabbed him by the front of his robes and pulled him up and outside the house. She pushed him away from the house, her face filled with a great deal of anger. "Why? Why do you have to make our lives hard like this?"

"The honest truth is, I don't have an answer for you." The man stated, his normal mask upon his facial features.

The woman then crossed her arms across her chest. "I want you to stay at Tousen-san's place for a week or two, until you get things straightened up."

"Ran..."

Gin found himself interrupted as she held up her hand. "I am not going to hear any excuses from you. I'll tell him that you've gone on another mission and won't be back for awhile. Just get yourself put back together."

At that, Ichimaru felt his mouth twist up into a frown, just as Tousen left the small house and grabbed him by the back of his uniform. "You don't want to have this escalate into a major argument. The last time the two of you had an argument, your son woke up and became emotionally distressed and had an attack. Your wife didn't just kick you out for a week or two, it was for four whole months."

"May I ask what our argument was about that time?" The man raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.

The dark skinned man allowed Gin to walk by himself, following behind him. "It was another argument about you not taking proper care of that child of yours."

"What did I do that time?"

The silver haired man suddenly found himself grabbed by the front of his clothing. Tousen's face twisted up with extreme anger. "Do you think all of this is a game, Hitsugaya?"

At that, Ichimaru's eyes widened, noting the name he had abandoned a long time ago. "My memory apparently has been fuzzy of late."

"You drink while at work. You lose your pay. You forget your pay. You forget about the medicine." Tousen then took a deep breath. "You also think it is all right to take him outside like you did today. Honestly, don't you understand that going outside raises the risk of him having an attack?"

At that, Ichimaru narrowed his eyes at the man. "The kiddo asked for me to take him outside."

At that, the other man suddenly punched him hard in the chin, causing Gin to fall to the ground. "What the child wants doesn't matter here! You are the parent, not him. Are you trying to kill him."

At that, the silver haired male wiped the blood away from his lip. "If he doesn't have long to live, I want him to have the chance to live while he still can, to have the chance to actually enjoy life. He may not be a normal child, but he deserves to have as many chances to be a normal child as possible. Do you honestly wish to tell me I am wrong about this?"


	6. Rattled Information

Profound silence was what greeted Gin for a a couple of days. Ichimaru ended up at Tousens's place, barred from going to work due to his supposed drinking episode the day before. The dark skinned man refused to talk to him, let alone give him time of day. However, after a couple of days, when Ichimaru was no longer barred from returning to his shinigami duties he finally spoke up.

"Do you remember your rank and position?" Kaname stated firmly, standing in the door frame that separated the two rooms that were a part of the apartment that the man had outside of his quarters at the ninth division.

"I think you know full well that I don't know my rank. Hell, I don't know who is in what position anymore. 'cause you know, I think I've come from a different world." Gin stated from the corner of the room, his tone indicating that he found the whole situation boring.

"You are the fukutaicho of the fifth division under Hirako Shinji. He's the one who has been putting in a good word for you, but I honestly don't know how long that will last. It honestly think it is a game to him." Tousen continued to glower at him, not at all pleased with the situation.

"Are you a captain?" The question seemed to be important, yet not.

At that, the man suddenly raised an eyebrow. "I am the captain of the eighth division."

At that, Ichimaru found himself opening his eyes up a bit. The information he got made him nervous and tense, as it meant that the older captains were out of the picture. However, even if they weren't, he had his doubts that he would be able to convince them that something was wrong, particularly if he and Aizen were the only ones who shared having memories of the other world.

"The captain of the forth is..." The man folded his arms across his chest. "I think I need to find out, just in case I am placed in their for some sort of mental problem."

At that, Tousen let out a deep sigh. "Yamada Seinosuke took over for his grandmother, Unohana Taicho when she choose to retire, which you know full well is rare. His wife, Yamada Isane is the fukutaicho."

"And his brother?" Gin continued to pressure.

At that, the man turned to glare at Ichimaru. "He's the fukutaicho of the thirteenth division under Shiba Kaien. I can't believe that kid made captain, though maybe his older brother being a captain had something with him getting the position when Ukitake Taicho retired."

At that, Ichimaru blinked a couple of times. "You said that retiring was rare."

"He retired when Yamamoto and Kyoraku Taicho were killed." Tousen suddenly tossed an item at Ichimaru. "That's the last question I will answer. Here is your fukutaicho badge. You've had a bad habit of leaving it around places."

At that, the dark skinned man walked away, leaving Ichimaru with partial information about the new world he was in. Glancing down at his badge, he stopped and thought about the things that had in fact occurred to him. Closing his eyes, he also thought back to what the man had said before, that Kaien was now the captain of the thirteenth. " _He said something about Kaien getting the position because his brother was a captain._ " At that, he opened up his eyes. "That means Isshin is still a captain in this world."

At that, he stood up and decided to head towards the tenth division, the most likely division for Isshin to actually be in. His footsteps fell on the wooden floor, as he found the need to find out more of the truth, despite the fact that it honestly meant more anguishing about trying to change Toshiro and Rangiku's futures towards a better one.

" _If I recollect, when Shiba Isshin went to the living world and lost his powers, he ended up starting a family, under a new name._ " At that, Gin found himself inwardly flinching. "The substitute shinigami..."

Upon arriving at the tenth division, Ichimaru opened up the door and saw the man he was looking for at his desk. The man was busy working away at the paperwork and he payed the man no attention. However, the current fukutaicho raised up his head. Ichimaru recognized it as Tomo Atsuo, the lieutenant before Toshiro in the other world.

"Hitsugaya Fukutaicho?" The man's words caused Isshin to suddenly look up.

At that, Isshin motioned for Gin to come over and see him. "How is Toshiro doing?"

"My son?" Ichimaru suddenly found himself smiling, wishing that he had been able to share this information with the man before. "He's not gotten worse. He's a good kid."

"Children should be able to run around and do things." The man continued working away. "I'd stop by and visit, but your wife thinks that people visiting him will make him sick and have another attack."

"So what are we to do then? It isn't right that we not let him have some sort of freedom." Gin suddenly sat down in the chair in front of the man's desk

At that, Isshin suddenly glanced up. "I know that you can't bring that child into Soul Society... that's why you turned down the quarters in the fifth division, so you could spend more time with him. However, you might want to ask Yamada Taicho if he knows of any ways to strengthen that child's legs so that he might be able to walk on his own. If Toshiro can get to the point of walking on his own, your wife can't say anything, right?"

At that, Ichimaru found himself blinking a couple of times. "You think that Toshiro could possibly walk?"

"Gin, you and I've talked about this before." However, the tenth division taicho raised up his hand. "You're having those memory lapse problems again, aren't you?"

At that, the silver haired man suddenly found himself glancing up at the ceiling. "Could you tell me the honest truth about when they started?"

"Your memory lapses started sixteen, seventeen years ago roughly." The man though continued speaking. "Actually, your memory lapses started occurring when you estimated my son from that other world should have been born."

"Then I've likely rattled off stuff about how you were supposed to have three really beautiful kids? Well, your son is damn creepy, but the girls are sweet hearts." The man glanced at the ceiling, needing some time to think about everything, before coming up with a plan. It seemed though, Aizen had more time to plan."


	7. Blocked Passage

While Ichimaru still felt comfortable around Isshin and his old fukutaicho, truth was he couldn't help but feel some sort of tension between them and him. It wasn't that they disliked him coming there, but the tension obviously resulted from the fact that Shiba Taicho and Tomo Fukutaicho were honestly worried about them.

He left for his division, his footsteps falling on the wooden floor, not really wanting to know what other changes had occurred between the two worlds simply because Aizen could manipulate things. He also didn't want to think of the fate of Hinamori Momo either, because he knew that the man could be very sick and twisted if he wanted to.

Arriving at the fifth division, Gin opened the door and stepped into the office, raising up a hand. "I'm back!"

At that, Shinji glanced up, his hair long like it was during his captaincy. "Honestly Gin, stop copying me."

It was then that particular captain went and began to pick his nose, while glaring at the ceiling like an idiot. Ichimaru shook his head. "Don't you think it is Shiba Taicho who is copying you? I mean, he does what you are doing right now when he wants to annoy people."

"Well, I do it with more flare, so while he does in fact copy me, I am the supreme at this." The blond haired man continued to pick his nose. "Maybe the two of us should have a nose picking contest."

"So... what missions to you have for me to do?" The sliver haired man slid into his desk, only to suddenly frown at the level of paperwork there.

At that, Shinji paused with his finger in his nose, mid pick. "Look... Gin, I've talked to you about this before. You're stuck at desk duty because you're a pain in the neck and it is the one way I am allowed to keep you as my fukutaicho. Yes, captains are allowed to choose their subordinates, but you are causing me no end of worry."

"I'm guessing that this is Aizen's request." Ichimaru picked up the first form, his mouth twisting up in major distaste.

"Lord Aizen. Not that I think he deserves the name. I much would rather have a Lord and King you talk about in that made up world of yours. Honestly, not all of us are lucky enough to retreat there." Shinji paused for a few seconds. "Everyone knows that Aizen is worried about you teaming up with Urahara and Yourichi because you are delusional that they are bad guys."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ichimaru raised an eyebrow suddenly, confusion spreading on his face.

"I know you're in one of your funks now." Shinji said, glancing at the ceiling. "Isshin doesn't pick his nose in this world." At that, Gin found his entire body freezing up, and then he glanced down at the desk. It was the man who instead continued. "Aizen wasn't the one who barred you from leaving Soul Society, or desk work, I was."

"I think you know I am going to have to ask you why." The silver haired man let out a deep sigh.

"I've already lost Hiyori. She died when Urahara and Yourichi supposedly killed Yamamoto and Kyoraku Taicho. Nearly everyone in that room died and it was a bloody mess." The man let out a deep sigh at that point.

"You were one of the survivors, as was Lisa, who has now retired due to the stress of seeing her captain killed like that. Hachigen, whose taken over the Kido corps. Mashiro, whose in the forth division now." The blond haired man then looked at Gin. "While your problems started about fifteen, twenty years ago, your story was the only one that didn't match up to Urahara being the instigator."

"Did you lose Aikawa, Otoribashi and Mugurama Taicho too?" Ichimaru asked, not liking where this was going.

"Kensei was away on a mission at the time, so he's still around. He rather reluctantly sent Mashiro to work in the forth division because her mental state was beyond repair and he didn't want her kicked out. This Hisagi Shuhei is now Kensei's fukutaicho and they actually work well with each other, but he still misses her."

The man then narrowed his eyes. "Stop changing the subject. Everyone chalked up your difference in story due to your young age and the fact that Aizen and Tousen were the ones to come in afterwords, you jumped for awhile to the conclusion that they were the ones that had done the massacre." Shinji glanced at the ceiling. "Sometimes I wonder if what you said though was the truth."

However, it was at this point in time that the alarm system went off.


	8. Unexpected Intruder

Upon hearing the alarm system go off, Ichimaru found himself suddenly glancing up towards where the alarm was coming from. " _Attention. We have an intruder in the West Rukongai district. We have an intruder alert._ "

At that, Ichimaru suddenly stood up, heading for the door, leaving his paperwork behind. His feet fell on the floor, only to have it suddenly grabbed by Shinji as he headed out the door. "Where do you think you are going?"

"I think I know who it is." Gin stated, turning his eyes towards the man.

"How can you possibly know who it is. You haven't been allowed into the Living World for twenty-five years now and I've been watching the gates you could possibly take to insure that you didn't in fact cause any problems. Are you wanting to be kicked out of the Gotei Thirteen?" The words snapped out of the man's mouth.

At that, the silver haired man's reply came rather quickly. "I don't want to live this life. I want to go back to the world I used to live in. In that world, Shiro-chan was healthy."

His taicho though, refused to let go of his arm. "From what you've also told me, that child wasn't happy in the world he was living in, where as in this world he is very happy with the way things are."

At that, Gin paused for a few seconds, then turned to Shinji as the man let him go. "I think it depends on what you mean by happiness. There is a major difference between having a false sense of happiness when your freedom is taken away, and an understanding that not everything will be happy in life. This isn't the Toshiro I know."

At that, he took off, shunpooing to the West district, no given orders in mind. Instead, he simply stayed in the shadows, so that he wouldn't be noticed by anyone who came within the area. Finally though, he came to the area and noticed that the wall hadn't come down, which meant that the alarm was sounded through some other means then the intruder stepping over the edge.

He got close to where the people were and glanced about the place, then crept close to the shinigami that was taking notes from the residents of the Junrinan area. "I swear, the gate opened up in the sky and this orange haired fellow came out. He had this red strap and this huge blade. I've never seen him before, but he seemed to have the level of a captain, yet... I know the names of all the captains."

At that, Ichimaru felt around for a particular reiatsu pattern, knowing full well that he and Aizen were likely the only persons who had the memories to remember that particular pattern, which in truth shouldn't be existing in this world. He headed towards where the person was hidden, his footsteps falling silently, so that no one would notice him moving about.

Finally, he got to a spot and ducked into the doorway. A few people were shivering in fear, looking over at where someone was standing in the shadows. Gin reached up and scratched his head, while the people glanced over at him, still maintaining their fear. Ichimaru smiled at them, then walked over and grabbed the person in the shadows, dragging him outside, covering the person's mouth as he did so.

Hiding from the shinigami who were looking for the stranger, Ichimaru slowly traced a path away form the main town area of the Junrinan. His footsteps kept things in a hurry, until they got to a clearing next to some woods, and Ichimaru ducked inside, letting go of the young males mouth. Upon this happening, the male spoke up. "What are you doing Ichimaru?"

"Saving your skin creepy kid." The silver haired man went and leaned against a tree, watching the orange haired teenager fume at him.

At that, Ichigo glowered at the man, folding his arms across his chest. "I've done well on my own before."

At that, Gin let out an irritated sound. "You _weren't_ alone before. You had your friends. The fact that they aren't with you tells me that they don't even remember who you are, because in this world it is impossible for you to exist."

"How did you know that I don't..." The substitute shinigami paused for a few minutes. "I actually exist in this world physically. What doesn't exist is my mother, father, sisters. How did you know that though?"

"It's not that your father and mother don't exist in this world kid, because they honestly do. The fact is, your father and mother _never_ met in this world, thus it is impossible for you _or_ your siblings to exist." Ichimaru suddenly smirked at the young male. "In other words, in this world, you never were born. You have a case of " _It's a Wonderful Life_ " syndrome."

At that, the substitute shinigami flopped onto the ground, frustration written all over his face. "My question for you is, why are you the only other person who remembers the other world."

"I'm not the only other person who remembers the other world. The answer to who else should be so obvious, it isn't funny." Gin watched the young male carefully, reading the dark aura that flooded off the boy. " _Perhaps this is what I need to fix things._ "

"Do you know where Rukia is?" Ichigo suddenly asked, glancing up with a rather determined look on is face.

Ichimaru let out a deep breath. "I guess she might be in the district she grew up in before entering the academy, or she could have been adopted by the Kuchiki family. I don't know where a lot of people are, truth be told, and I've only just found out myself. A lot of the captains, the really tough ones aren't here anymore. For example, I just found out Yamamoto and Kyoraku Taicho are dead."

"I knew that. Urahara told me that when I asked him to let me into Soul Society. It took a lot to convince me I wasn't a spy for Aizen too." The two brown eyes looked like they were thinking carefully. "I guess you don't know where Renji or any of the Viazard are, do you?"

"Shinji is actually my taicho, just like he once was in the old world. Most seem to have been killed off. And no, I don't know where that Abarai kid is. I never really liked him, so I don't really care. Don't get me wrong, I never disliked him either." Gin suddenly slid down and pulled on the grass to pass the time, while he watched for the reiatsu of other people that might come their way.

At that, Ichigo glanced up, a rather hopeful look on his face. "If I remember correctly, the events before coming to this world being so fuzzy, you had some sort of connection with Rangiku-san. Is she doing all right?"

At that, the silver haired man let out a laugh. "I think I should get a bit jealous that you are eying her like that."

At that, the substitute shinigami's face turned a bright red. "That woman is old _enough_ to be my mother! You talked about me being creepy, but that is _really_ creepy!"

"I know where Rangiku is in this world. Our relationship is not a good one, yet in a way it is. It is hard to explain." The man stuck a piece of grass in his mouth and began to chew on it.

"Could you introduce her to me?" Ichigo suddenly blurted out. "I figure if you don't know where everyone was, she might at least know where Toshiro was. They always seemed rather close."

At that, Gin found himself spitting out the stalk, his facial features twisting up. "Kid, you don't want to see Toshiro."

"Then you know where he is?" The young shinigami's words simply poured out, surprising the man greatly.

"I know where he is." Ichimaru snapped his words out. "He doesn't remember the other world, so why bother?"

"I just want to know that he is all right." Ichigo let out a deep breath. "I want to know that most everyone is all right, though I know some are not."

"Kid, I'll repeat this. You do not want to see him." Gin folded his arms across his chest.

"Why? Is he under Aizen's control? If so, I'll just hit him over the head and knock some sense into him." Kurosaki came across overly adamant about the situation, but the silver haired man still gave him a dirty look. It was then that he suddenly bowed to the man. "Please. I don't want to know because I think of him as a friend. I've already lost my sisters in this world, which makes him the closes thing I have to family."

This caused the man to let out a deep sigh, and then suddenly glance up at the sky. "I'll take you to show Toshiro, though you need to beware Rangiku as her personality is different in this world... for apt reasons. However, I warn you that you won't like what you see. I know I didn't and my mind is still reeling because of it."


	9. The Rain Falls Down (Part One)

Ichigo followed Gin, asking no questions as the man led him to another part of the Junrinana district. The young man's brown eyes glanced around, listening to the quiet. "Is Toshiro staying with the Shiba clan."

"Funny you should ask that. No, he isn't." Ichimaru stated as the arrived on the path near the house. There are some things that you will see and hear when you see Hitsugaya Toshiro that will cause you confusion. I ask that you wait until I can talk to you alone about these things. That way he won't end up also being confused."

At that, the males arrived at a small house and the silver haired man stepped into the room. "Oka-san, I am home."

At that point, an old woman spoke up, her tone coming across as lecturing. "Gin! I'm not blind to the fact that your wife doesn't want you around right now, as you have been acting strange."

"Wife?" The tone of disbelief came quick and fast from the substitute shinigami, as Gin suddenly fought hard to keep his normal mask plastered on his face. Isshin's son seemed no where near as smart as the old man. "You mean Rangiku-san is your wife?"

At that, the old woman glanced up at the orange haired youth, her words coming across softly. "I haven't see you around before young man."

"I'm... a friend of Toshiro's you might say." At that, Ichigo reached up to scratch his head, not understanding the kind of trouble he could get the two of them in. Ichimaru let out a deep breath of annoyance due to this.

However, the old woman seemed keen on the idea and brushed things off. "While I don't know of a time that Toshiro-chan could have made friends with you, that child honestly needs them. For some reason to, I feel no ill will coming from you, unlike some of the scamps that are in this village and like to torment my grandson."

The woman's smile then broadened. " You know, the boy is still sleeping right now, so you came at an apt time, in time for me to run some errands."

And with that, she left the room, leaving the two males alone. Ichigo though turned to Gin, a few things confusing him. "That woman is your mother, right?"

"She is my biological mother." Ichimaru shook his head, hoping that Toshiro wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

"And Toshiro is her grandson." Ichigo continued to press for the answers that were there.

"Again, it is a blood relation." The silver haired man moved over to the curtain, to peek in to see how the young one was in fact doing.

"That means you and Rangiku-san are Toshiro's aunt and uncle, right?" The orange haired teen's mind was still trying to comprehend what was going on, but also trying to avoid a particular answer.

"No." The man stated, noting that Toshiro was still asleep. He went and sat on the floor near the fire pit, which had gone out that morning. He nudged the ashes with his foot, frustrated even more with the situation.

"Rangiku and I are Toshiro's biological parents. However, in the other world, this is something that I've kept from both of them because I couldn't be sure what Aizen would do to those I cared the most about, if he found out we were connected. I don't think I was wrong in doing so, considering what this world is like under that man's rule."

"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked, coming to sit down with Ichimaru.

"You'll find out when Shiro-chan wakes up." Gin again nudged the ashes, wondering if Ichigo could in fact help him with everything that was going on. "You need to remember that he isn't going to know who you are. You also need to remember that you aren't going to like what you find out."

A bit of time passed, and then the curtain was pulled back slightly, and a soft voice came from behind the curtain. "Oto-san? Mama said you were on a mission, so you wouldn't be back for awhile."

"The mission ended early." Ichimaru suddenly slid over to the curtain, then lifted the child into his lap. "Is there somewhere you want to go today?"

"Baka." The tone the white haired child took suddenly changed. "I know you weren't on a mission. Mama got mad at you again, and she'll be mad at you again if you take me out of the house. I don't like not being able to see you. You actually let me do things."

At that, the silver haired man turned his eyes towards the substitute shinigami, trying to figure out what thoughts was crossing the young man's mind. He was not surprised to see Ichigo's jaw dropped in shock. Toshiro though, noticed the direction that Ichimaru was looking in, and he suddenly blinked a couple of times. "Who is your friend?"

"Technically he is your friend, so to speak." Ichimaru suddenly felt the boy bury his face into his chest.

"I don't know that person." Then came the next response. "It's not possible for me to have friends. The people outside of the house, when you take me outside... they stare because I can't walk. Some of the people who visit granny, when they think I'm asleep talk about how I am a burden to you and Oka-san. Sometimes, I wish I could just disappear. Then you wouldn't drink and become funny, right?"

Gin felt his jaw suddenly clench, and he thought back to what Shinji had told him not that long ago. " _From what you've also told me, that child wasn't happy in the world he was living in, where as in this world he is very happy with the way things are._ " The man mentally spit, knowing full well that was a lie.

Before he could say something to his small son, Ichigo took the time to stand up. "Don't say that. We may not have met in this world, but the world from which I come from, I know for a fact that Rangiku and Gin love you very much."

" _That_ world?" At that, the child's tone suddenly turned dark. The small boy carefully repositioned his legs so that he could face Ichigo. "I've heard of that world from Oto-san rambling. Some people think that he made up that world, because in that world I'm able to walk and talk, and I'm not a burden to him. I think he realized that world exists, because he _hates_ the fact that he'll always have to take care of me."


	10. The Rain Falls Down (Part Two)

A pair of pale teal eyes and a pair of chocolate brown eyes suddenly looked at the small child with shock, as a few tears fell down the boy's face. The color of that particular person's eyes couldn't be seen, as he looked at the ground, his lip trembling. However, he didn't at all attempt to pull away from Ichimaru's arms. "Now you know. Now you both know."

At that, Gin let out a deep sigh and reached up one hand to brush his silver hair away, wondering how best to say what needed to be said to the small child in front of him. "Are you honestly trying to tell me that you think I completely hate you in this world, but completely love you in the other world?"

"Don't you remember the other day? You voiced the fact that you thought I could be a taicho of the Gotei Thirteen, which was based on what you saw of me in the other world. You also asked me if I wanted to be a shinigami, if I could walk." The small boy continued to look at the ground, refusing to look the physically older males in the face.

"Now, why didn't you say anything about this before?" Ichimaru let out a deep sigh, wondering how he would fix this problem. Particularly since Toshiro was a precocious and overly sensitive child in both worlds.

At that, there was a bit of silence from the younger Hitsugaya family member, and then he spoke up. "I didn't want to be a further burden."

At that, Gin buried his face into the crook of the child's neck. "Shiro-chan... you find ways to get on my nerves in both worlds, don't you. I don't want you to be a shinigami until you are older. I didn't want that in the other world, but you becoming one was out of my control. I hated how you couldn't ever be a child and this world is no different because you can't walk."

"I..." At that, Toshiro found himself looking up, more tears falling down his cheeks. "Then I was a burden in _both_ worlds?"

It was at that point, Ichigo's eyebrow suddenly twitched in irritation, and then he moved forward and hit the small boy on the head, hard. To his utter surprise, instead of stopping and listening to him like he had done in the other world, the white haired boy burst into tears. The silver haired man raised up his head, giving Ichigo a look that screamed murder. " _What_ did you do _that_ for?"

"I was trying to get him to pay attention to me, so I could tell him something he needs to hear! It always worked in the other world!" The orange haired youth looked at the man in frustration.

" _What_ exactly did you want to tell him?" Ichimaru narrowed his eyes.

At that, the teenager scratched his head. "I was going to say he isn't a burden, despite the fact that he tends to think of himself that way in both worlds."

"In that world Kurosaki, Shiro-chan was able to easily take burdens onto his own shoulders for large periods of time. He _can't_ do it in this world." Gin snapped the words out.

"And he shouldn't have been doing that, because it got all of us mad at him because he wouldn't ever let us help him." Ichigo folded his arms across his chest.

The sobbing during this escapade began to calm down and the boy turned his body so he could bury his face into Ichimaru's chest, his legs twisting because he hadn't taken the time to move them. As his father did so, Toshiro spoke up, despite the fact his voice was muffled. "I want to be able to play with the other kids. I don't want them to give my funny looks when they see me. I'm tired of being cooped up all day, doing nothing."

"The hogyoku grants wishes my ass." Ichimaru spat the words out of his mouth. "This is the same problem in the other world, but for a very different reason."

"By that you mean..." Kurosaki blinked a couple of times.

"He doesn't want them giving him funny looks because he is an invalid here, but over there they gave him funny looks because of his funny hair and eye color. He is unable to play with them here because he can't walk, he is unable to play with them there because they consider him a freak. He can't go places here because he can't walk, and there because he is shunned."

It was then that the old lady came back. "Oh my! What occurred while I was gone?"

"Toshiro's upset because he has no life beyond this house." Ichigo stated, telling her the truth.

The old woman simply walked over to the child and pulled him from his father's arms into hers. "Shush now, little one. You know that you can't be having attacks like this. Go to sleep before you make yourself sick."

At that, Ichimaru suddenly found his head darting up. "Wait a second, his attacks are _panic_ attacks?"

"They can be very vicious, but yes. That is what they are. One of the arguments you've had with Rangiku in the past is that the two of you have been coddling him too much. She doesn't want to do anything to upset him, but you say he needs to face life experience to understand and grow as a person."

At that, Gin glanced at the floor. " _Why_ is Toshiro taking the medicine? How exactly did that start?"

"When Toshiro was born, Lord Aizen had someone from the Gotei Thirteen come out and check on him due to the fact he wouldn't ever cry even to ask for food. It was Rangiku who brought the worry to his attention though, not yourself. He's been taking the medicine ever since." The old woman then added something in. "It was prescribed by Lord Aizen's own doctor."

"I need to speak with Kurosaki for a second." Ichimaru stated, suddenly grabbing Ichigo's arm and hauling him out of the door, his face betraying the panic and anguish on his face.

"Do you think that medicine is actually making Toshiro sick, rather then helping him?" The young man asked, watching Gin's facial features carefully.

"Everything my mother described to you were things that have happened to that child in the other world. He was a quiet child, and my mother had to feed him using a routine schedule, rather then relying on him to cry. He also had some pretty bad panic attacks, but your father and Unohana only gave him medicine to calm him down when they got really bad. They got better as he got older too."

"Wait a second, what does my father have to do with this?" Ichigo asked, blinking a couple of times.

"We don't have time for that. Aizen played on the fact that Rangiku is very protective of our son, even though she doesn't remember that he is ours in the other world. We might be able to get him out of this mess. I am not a person who likes asking another for help, but I feel that I have to. I also think you'll get some of your answers by the time we are through."

"Urahara wasn't able to answer why I existed in this world, despite the fact I shouldn't." Ichigo suddenly piped up.

"I said _some_ , Kurosaki." Gin stated, then turned his tone down low. "Here is the plan."


	11. Putting a Plan Into Motion

After Ichimaru told the substitute shinigami the basics of his plan, he headed into the room and found himself smiling at what he saw. His mother was sitting next to Toshiro and was touching the child's head in a calming way, while he slept with his white head of hair in her lap. The boy's cheeks were tear stained and red, but Gin couldn't help but feel a small bit of hope at the idea that something might be fixed.

At that, he moved over to his mother. "Oka-san? I want to try taking Shiro-chan off that medicine we have been giving him. I think if I can get him off this, he might actually get better."

"His body has a major attack the times you and Rangiku have tried before." His mother smiled at him half way. "She said no more, about twenty, thirty years ago. That's one of the reasons she has become so upset with your not getting his medicine on time, because the attack is honestly not like the others."

"I think, if he can get past the major attack, he will begin to recover." Ichimaru stated, watching his mother carefully. "You do understand that I am not going to ask your or Rangiku's permission to do this?"

"If you think this is the right thing to do, then do it." The old woman stated. "I suggest not doing it here, because Ran-chan will be coming home right around the time a major attack will occur. Do also take the medicine with you, in case this doesn't work."

"I completely understand what you are saying." Ichimaru carefully lifted up the sleeping child into his arms. "I was planning on taking him away, particularly since I don't wish for you to see him have a with drawl from the medicine."

The old woman turned her head over to a trunk. "That has some cloth straps in it, that you can tie him to your back."

"I'll get them." Ichigo walked over to the trunk and pulled out the cloth. He then came back to Gin and helped the man to secure the boy onto his back while the old woman watched. Both males then turned to her and bowed, saying their respects before they left.

The two then set out on the path, their steps quick to get to their intended place. They began to walk around the outskirt of the village, and then they headed down the road, once they were out of site of anyone from the village. Ichimaru led the way, while the orange haired teen followed behind, keeping a watch for anyone suspicious.

"Do you know where they are located?" The young man asked, hoping that this wouldn't be a futile journey.

At that, Ichimaru shook his head. "I actually don't know where they are. You know as well as I that they move about and you can't find them. At least, that is the way it is in the living world. That said, there is a pattern that they tend to follow, and there are certain places they don't go. Not to mention they always stay in the first district of the West."

At that, Kurosaki stopped in his tacks. "Why then are we moving before we have a plan?"

Gin suddenly paused himself, his teal eyes looking at the young man. "Because, we need to get a head start on Rangiku to make it harder for her to follow us."

"I see... I think." The young shinigami started up as soon as the man did so.

It was not long after that, that the child on Ichimaru's back suddenly started to stir, burying his face into the man's back. However, after a few minutes, he woke up, blinking the sleep away. "Oto-san?"

"You're awake, Shiro-chan?" Gin suddenly found himself smiling, a good honest smile. This was likely due to the fact that he didn't feel down about everything, and for once had a glimmer of hope in his mind.

"Where are we going?" The boy asked, glancing around, his eyes wide as he took in everything around him.

At that, the silver haired man let out a laugh. "We're going to try something to make you better."

Toshiro suddenly stiffened, his hands holding onto his father's shoulders. "But... we've tried a lot of things before. You know that whatever we are going to do, we'll just end up failing, like always."

"You shouldn't ever give up, particularly in your dreams, little one." The man continued on the path, while the child took in everything.

Suddenly, a small hand darted forward, shaking as it did so. "Look at that house! It has that funny feet sculptures."

"Yeah... we managed to find the place." Ichigo stated firmly, his eyebrow twitching. He continued to follow the man, until they came to the front and were suddenly greeted by the Shiba clan members centuries.

"Hitsugaya-dono, what brings this visit about?" One of the large males piped up.

At that, Ichimaru smiled at them. "You don't need to add that suffix to my family name. I came from the Rukongai. I decided to bring Shiro-chan here for a visit. Can I explain things to the lady of the house, Kukaku-san?"

At that, the two males held out their hands, allowing the silver haired man and orange haired youth to step by, while Kurosaki looked around in confusion. They worked their way down stairs, until they came to a particular room and they were admitted in. The female Shiba looked over the three, then nodded to the side room. "Put the kid in there. For some reason you have something that you wish to say to me that you don't want to worry the boy with."

At that, Gin bowed to the female, and then moved into the other room, lowering the child to a futon left out for the guests, particularly in a case of an emergency. He then moved out to sit in front of the woman. "Can I run something by you?"

"I think that you'll do whatever you are going to do, even if I disagree." The woman tapped her pipe, letting some ash to fall out.

Ichimaru faced her, his face completely serious when he talked to her. "You know full well that my son is taking medicine, because it is supposed to be helping him. I am now wondering if the medicine isn't part of the problem."

"So you brought him here where that wife of yours won't kick your but when you take the kid off?" Kukaku let out a deep breath of frustration. "That _isn't_ exactly the kind of business I want to get messed up in. If I recollect from my eldest brother, the result of you removing Toshiro-kun from the medicine before was rather drastic."

"How drastic is someone's with drawl from a drug?" The man watched her carefully.

The woman stared at the man for a few minutes. "So... you think the reason he ends up the way he does is because of an actual with drawl?" There was another moment of silence and then she waved her head. "Feel free to stay. This is something I am honestly willing to take a chance on. However..." At this, she glanced at Ichigo. "I am also interested in that young man next to you, and I think you know why."


	12. Substitute Existance

"I am also interested in that young man next to you, and I think you know why." Kukaku's mouth twisted up into a wide smile, watching as Ichigo suddenly began to squirm.

The orange haired teen scooted backwards. "Well, I certainly don't know the reason why..."

Ichimaru spoke up, his tone rather dry. "Has your older brother ever mentioned my ramblings about a another world?"

At that, the woman suddenly let out a laugh. "Oh, my brother has talked to me about that world. However, I think I want to hear what you have to say about this other world. Because you aren't from this one, are you."

At that, Ichigo took a deep breath. "I don't know how you know that, but yeah... I don't exist in this world."

"Why is that?" The woman leaned forward onto her arm, her smile continuing to show her mirth about the situation. "I think we have time, until we need to worry about the child."

At that, Gin stood up. "Still, I would like to stay with him, if you don't mind."

The other two waited until he was gone, and then Kukaku turned back to the teenager. "So, tell me your story."

At that, a hand reached up to scratch an orange head of hair. "Well... I grew up with my mother and father, and two little sisters. My mother has passed away in the other world. However, in this world she is actually alive. I think it has to do with the fact that my father and mother never met in this world. That also means though, my sister's and I can't exist either. Sounds far fetched, doesn't it?"

"You sound like an anomaly, don't you?" The woman smirked. "So, what was your father's name?"

"Kurosaki Isshin..." The young man frowned at her, not sure where this was going.

"What else do you know about your father?" Again, the dark haired female pushed for information.

"I found out right before I got drawn into this world, that my father used to be a shinigami. He had the ability to control the inside of the precipice world by himself." Ichigo stated, still scratching his head.

"Can I ask you something?" When the substitute shinigami nodded his ehad, Kukaku spoke up again. "Why is it that you never went looking for your father?"

"I don't really know where to begin looking for him. I just know for a fact that he kept a lot of information from me." The young man glanced at the ground.

"Sounds like him." The woman let out a deep laugh, then pointed at herself. "Do you know who I am?"

"You are... Ganju's older sister?" Ichigo found himself blinking a couple of times. "You're also a friend with Yourichi."

At that, the female Shiba let out a sigh. "So, did you meet any of our other brothers?"

At that, Ichigo glanced at the ceiling. "Ganju said something about how his older brother was pretty amazing. He died though, and so Ganju hated shinigami, because he said a shinigami did it."

"So, my little brother only mentioned having one brother that was a shinigami?" Kukaku folded her arms, her pipe in one hand, tapping it again.

Kurosaki blinked his brown eyes a couple of times. "There was only one mentioned."

"Well, in this world, three of my brother's are actually shinigami. Ganju followed in the steps of the two older ones. The one who died in the other world, that would be our middle brother, Kaien." The woman then let out a laugh. "The reason I believe your story is because you look a lot like our middle brother, except with orange hair."

"Excuse me..." Again, two chocolate eyes blinked again. "I am honestly not following."

"Here is the thing. Your father's last name is actually not Kurosaki. I assume that you found out your mother was alive by looking up the name Kurosaki?" The woman watched him carefully.

"Yeah..." Ichigo folded his arms across his chest.

"Isn't there something strange about that?" The woman watched as confusion spread on the teenagers face. "Isn't it normal for the _female_ to change her family name, not the male?"

"So, you're saying that me _father_ changed his last name when he got to the living world." The orange haired youth held his chin for a bit, then his eyes suddenly went wide. "Wait a second, my father's name wouldn't have been at one time Shiba Isshin?"

"Got a problem with the fact that in this world it still is?" There came a rather robust laugh from the female Shiba.

At that, Ichigo's face turned pale. "I'm... part of... the Shiba family?"

At that, Kukaku's eyes narrowed suddenly. "Do you have a problem being related to me or something of that sort?"

"Uh... no, not at all." The substitute shinigami glanced to the side, and then spoke quietly. "I have a problem with being related to Ganju."

"I heard that." The woman took a puff on her pipe. "That said, Ganju is the problem child, simply because he is the baby in our family." There was a period of silence, and then she spoke again. "Chances are, you'll have the Shiba clan on your side in what you do, but you may not."


	13. Trembling Soul

When Ichimaru slipped into the room where the child was, he glanced down to see Toshiro smiling up at him. He carefully sat down next to the boy, reaching his bony fingers out to touch the child's arm. "It looks like you are in a better mood."

At that, the smile faltered a bit. "I don't really understand why I am happy right now. I forgot that I had been in a bad mood." The boy then glanced away. "I forgot that I lost it in front of your friend over there."

"It is alright Toshiro. You don't need to think about it if you don't want to." The silver haired man let out a deep sigh. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I have a bunch of air blowing through my head." The boy then let out a laugh, still refusing to look at the man. "I'm smiling my head off, despite the fact I have this feeling I'm going to die in the next few minutes and not ever come back."

"I won't let that happen." Gin reached a hand over to wipe the white hair on the younger Hitsugaya's forehead away. He watched as the small child began to pick nervously at his robes. The boy also began to agitate his bottom lip, to which the man tapped the boy's shoulder. "Shiro-chan, don't do that with your lip. You might hurt yourself."

"I didn't realize I was doing that." At that, the boy turned to the man, a smile on his face. However, his eyes suddenly went wide and the smile left, falling into a rather tense facial feature. His body quickly tensed up, his back arching up from under the covers, all of this happening as a scream slipped from his lips.

Then began the twitching of the child's body uncontrollably. A shuffling could be heard from the other room, as the other two came running, the doors slamming loudly. Ichimaru quickly pulled out his zampaktuo and pushed the handle into the boy's mouth as he watched the seizure continue, only to have Ichigo pull him away.

"What do you think you're doing Kurosaki!" The man snapped.

"My dad works at a clinic. We had a patient have a seizure in the clinic and dad told the person with them not to stick anything in their mouth." The man stated. "You were also going to ask us to hold him down too, right?"

"Yes... well..." At that, the man turned to the boy, worry on his face.

Kukaku though moved forward, pulling the sheets away from Toshiro's body. "My brother said something about how the medicine you gave your son stopped the seizures instantly, so I guess we're supposed to just let him be for now?"

"My dad doesn't let me help in the clinic, but you also don't give them any sort of medicine, even after wards." Ichigo stated, watching Toshiro with concern.

At that, Ichimaru paused. "Kurosaki, could you please tell me why your father never let you help around the clinic?"

At that, the orange haired teen paused and turned his eyes towards Gin. "There is also a reason I am not allowed in the Science lab at school..."

"I'm sorry I asked..." The man let out a deep sigh, watching as the seizure kept up for quite a bit of time.

Eventually though, it stopped. The small child glanced up at the ceiling, his lungs panting. The boy's lip then trembled, his eyes going wide for some reason and a small whimper escaped his lips. Ichigo moved over and tipped the boy over to his left side. Upon doing this, a contingent of vomiting came about.

At that, Toshiro turned himself over and looked up at the ceiling, his eyes slightly glazed over. He took every so often, a few deep breaths while he tried to control his emotions. Ichimaru felt the need to be by the child's side and he moved over to the boy and sat down next to him. Leaning over the boy, he spoke up. "Shiro-chan, are you all right?"

At that, the boy's skin, which was already pale, suddenly became whiter. His lip trembled and he tried pushing out the words a few times. "I...Ichi..."

"Ichigo's right here Toshiro." The man stated. "He's been here this whole time."

At that, the child shook his head, his eyes wide with a great deal of fear. "Ichimaru..."


	14. Ice Cold Fear

"Ichimaru..." Two teal eyes looked at the man who leaned above him, reflecting a level of fear that rarely ever crossed the child's face. The boy opened his mouth again, his entire body trembling due to the feelings welling in his body, and due to the fact his body felt weak for some reason. "You..."

Gin's eyes had been open when he looked down upon him and he lacked the normal wide smile that was plastered over his face. His mouth opened up as he watched the young one that was looking at him with that level of fear. "Shiro-chan."

"No..." At that, Toshiro blinked a couple of times, and then tried forcing himself up in order to get away from the man. He could feel his arms trembling as he tugged himself off of the open futon, only to fall onto his back hard, as his legs choose not to work, despite the fact he could weakly use his arms. Panic crossed his face. " _Ichimaru. What_ did you do to me?"

At that, the boy flopped back down, his entire body trembling with fear. His teal eyes didn't look left or right, simply at the man as his mind tried to process what he needed to do next. " _I can't move my legs. I can feel them and they hurt big time, but not as if they were cut off and broken._ "

At that, Gin reached his hand over to touch Toshiro's shoulder, only to have the child begin to flail his arms about. "No! Don't touch me! Where's Matsumoto! What did you do to her! You bastard! Why are you...!"

At that, Ichimaru clapped a hand over the boy's mouth, only for Toshiro to try and punch at the man, albeit rather weakly. That way he knocked the hand away. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

"I don't believe you!" At that, Toshiro glanced around, trying to locate something. "What did you do to my zampaktuo? Where's Hyorinmaru?"

"Zampaktuo?" At that, Kukaku's voice suddenly came to him. "How is it possible for you to have a zampaktuo?"

At that, the boy's mouth opened and then he began to flail as Ichimaru scooped him into his arms holding him tightly. The boy attempted to pull away, his hands beating against the man as tears began to fall down his cheek and his eyes had a great deal of fear in them. "Kukaku-san! Why are you letting him... why?"

Somehow, Gin managed to latch on tightly, as he tried to calm the child down. "Shiro-chan. I am not going to hurt you. If you calm down, I can explain everything. There are... some things I need to tell you."

"No!" At that, the boy leaned over and bit down onto Ichimaru's left forearm, good and hard. At that, two pale eyes turned to look at that action, complete shock written all over his face.

It was then that the substitute shinigami took action, hurrying over to pry Toshiro's mouth open. At that, both of the physically older males let the boy back down onto the futon mat, holding him down. Ichigo this time was also looking down at the boy. "Toshiro! Are you trying to hurt yourself! Baka!"

"That's cap..." At that, the boy paused, his mouth opening again. "Why? Why are you helping Ichimaru of all people?" He then glanced at the man, noting the badge on Gin's arm. " _Why_ does he have a fukutaicho badge. I don't understand."

"In this world of Aizen's, neither one of us _ever_ became captains of the Gotei Thirteen kiddo." Ichimaru watched the boy very carefully.

At that, the boy's mouth opened widely, then shut closed. "I'm tired. This is just a bad dream."

"Shut your eyes then." Gin stated, watching as the boy complied, his head hitting the pillow as the man pulled the futon cover back over him. He then began to hum a song, which caused the boy to fall asleep.

At that, Kukaku let out a deep breath. "So, what are we going to do if that child wakes up not remembering any of that conversation you just had."

Ichimaru closed his eyes. "If that happens, we'll deal with that when it happens. The thing I need to deal with now is preparing for a rather angry mother cat, who is going to want to know where her child got to. Kukaku-san, could you do me a favor of getting rid of this, getting it as far away from us as possible?"

The female found something tossed into her hands, a soft bundle that held the fake medicine that Aizen had given them to take care of the boy. "You want his memories of the other world to stay then? Are you sure that is a good idea?"

"If he has his memories back, there is a chance he'll be able to walk again. Who knows. It may very well have been the medicine _or_ the mindset of this world." The man glanced at the floor, not at all pleased with the fact that the situation simply became more tense.


	15. Hunt of the Mother Cat

Two pale blue eyes glanced at the sun that was going to set in an hour. The busty female walked next to the captain of the second division, a worried look spread on her face. They were headed to the small house in the first West district where Rangiku's small son was. She spoke up to the woman as they headed in that direction. "Are you sure Soifon Taicho, that the stranger was sited in this district."

"That is what the reports say, and then he simply disappeared without anyone noticing where he headed, so he could now be anywhere in this district." The woman stated, her arms folded across her thing bust. "You know I don't approve of taking your work home with you, but the fact that the strange reiatsu headed in this direction honestly bothers me."

At that, the female let out a sigh. " _Please tell me that moron husband of mine hasn't been up to his usual pranks and stunts that could get him and others killed."_

However, her thoughts were broken away when the captain spoke up. "Have you told Hitsugaya Fukutaicho that you've joined up with second squad as an under cover reconnaissance officer and that you are now my fukutaicho?"

"I've thought about telling that man for a month or two now, but he's been having... problems for awhile now." The woman brushed back her hair. "I wouldn't have even gone through the academy if it weren't for the fact we do have a child to take care of, one who needs special attention."

"I've heard you mention that you have a child before. What is she like?" The woman glanced at the sky.

"Actually, we have a son. Toshiro isn't able to walk and needs to take medicine because his body is weak. Lord Aizen was kind enough to have one of our doctors look over the boy, and he's been on the medicine since he was really little to take care of his attacks. Even though he is still a sweet heart when these attacks come around... he isn't himself."

At that, the two arrived at the house and Rangiku found herself stepping into the room, just in time to see the grandmother of the house look up. The young woman smiled at the woman, but then her eyes fell upon the curtained area, which was open with no sign of the child. Slowly, she spoke up. "Oba-san... was Gin here?"

"He did stop by." The old woman stated, glancing at the ground. "He decided to take Toshiro out."

At that, Rangiku cursed under her breath. "I told that man to not come by here until he got things straitened out."

"Oba-san..." At that, the captain of the second division spoke up, bowing her head out of respect. "Was there anyone with Hitsugaya Gin Fukutaicho?"

"There was a young man that he called Shiro-chan's friend. He had this vibrant orange hair and he looked like the younger Shiba Taicho that stopped by to visit us some time ago... except of course, for that hair." The old woman smiled up at them.

At that, Soifon glanced at Rangiku. "In other words, the reason we couldn't find the intruder was because Hitsugaya Gin helped him to escape. You do understand what this means, Fukutaicho?"

At that, Rangiku opened up her mouth, only to have the old woman beat her to it. "May I say something?"

"I don't see why not." The small female watched the old woman carefully.

"The young man that my son brought by. I didn't sense any kind of hostility coming from him." The old woman spoke up, her hands on her lap.

"I'll take that in mind." Soifon stated as she walked out of the room, Rangiku hot on her heals. They headed towards the place that the strange reiatsu headed. Their footsteps fell as they began to pick upf their speed. "You do understand that I have to bring them both in now? I also have to consider them hostile due to the fact they have a possible hostage?"

At that, the busty woman spat out her own words. "Don't worry. I am wanting to seriously harm my husband right now. I may love him, but that child comes before him every single time and I've honestly had enough of these actions of his putting my son in danger."

They continued following the feeling, until they came to the house with two feet standing upside down. Rangiku let out a deep breath. "Why did they have to involve the Shiba clan in this?"

"What do you mean involve the Shiba clan?" At that, both woman turned to see a man dressed in the black shinigami robes. However, he also wore a green bandana and also had puffy pants and coat instead of the normal lower pants.

"Shiba Ganju, unseated officer of the seventh division." Soifon turned to look at the youngest Shiba member.

"I just passed sis about an hour ago, saying she was out on some sort of business. What are you doing here?" The young shinigami folded his arms across his chest, a smirk plastered across his face.

At that, Rangiku glowered at him. "Didn't you get the message that you need to be on duty? An intruder has entered the Rukongai area and we traced him back here."

"This is why the idiot isn't a seated officer." The smaller female piped up. "I am _so_ glad that his brothers insisted on giving him a _fitting_ rank."

"Hey. I'm actually seated officer material." Ganju muttered.

"You're supposed to say that you aren't stupid or ask why we think the intruder has entered into your home." The busty female shook her head in disbelief.

"Well... I guess they snuck in after sis left." The man suddenly flexed his muscles and began to walk to the entrance. "Don't worry. I'll flush out the bastard so you can deal with him."

When he disappeared, Soifon let out a deep sigh. "He doesn't even stop to think that his sister was harboring the intruder?"

"That would require some sort of intelligence on his part, taicho." The woman glanced at the entrance. "However, we do have permission from one of the Shiba clan members to deal with the intruder. Knowing this particular one, he'll need backup."


	16. Threat to Psyche

Quiet permeated the downstairs area of the Shiba household as Gin waited for Kukaku to return, while Ichigo began to pace back and forth in the bigger room outside where the silver haired man sat next to his son. The door was open a crack so he could keep an eye on the substitute shinigami as he wore the floor with his feet.

There then came a pounding sound from the stairs and the two guys who devoted themselves to serving the Shiba house hold suddenly protested, only to have the person burst through the door and point a finger right at Kurosaki Ichigo. "Who are you to intrude upon the Shiba household!"

"Ganju... you look weird in shinigami robes." The orange haired substitute shinigami spoke up while he looked at the man with a rather confused look.

"How dare you tell me I look weird!" The big boned male continued to point at Ichigo, but then paused. "Wait... how do you know my name?"

"Ganju-sama, he is a guest of your house. Your sister said so." The two big males stated.

At this, the youngest Shiba male turned to look a them, dumb founded, while Ichimaru peeked out at them from behind the other screen. His eyes narrowed, knowing that something was up. "Soifon taicho and her fukutaicho were outside. They said that an intruder entered our house."

At that, Ichigo rose up his man. "I am the person who entered soul society without permission. I freely admit it."

" _Dumb ass._ " Ichimaru suddenly found his hand slapping his forehead with his hand, frustrated that the whole thing was turning out this way. However,the look on Ganju's face was rather dumb founded. It was then that two shadows appeared from behind the bulky sized man and stepped in the room, causing Gin to suddenly freeze, his entire body freezing up.

At that, the dumb ass turned to the woman. "Oh. You two came down here too?" The male scratched his head. "Unfortunately, I can't let either one of you have them because they are guests of my sister."

"If you are talking about the fact that the Shiba clan is of the noble families, then let this be between noble famlies and not the shinigami." Soifon stated, suddenly pulling out her blade. Ichimaru raised an eyebrow as this was going on, knowing full well the kind of temper both of the females had.

At that, Rangiku also pulled her blade. "I am not here as a shinigami either, but as a mother, thank you very much."

At that, Ichigo and Ganju glanced at each other, confusion written all over there faces. It was then that the females attacked, using their feminine grace to their advantage against the two males who simply held like rocks. It honestly didn't look like anyone would win the fight, and Ichimaru simply hid in the shadows.

However, a stirring sound caused Gin to glance to the side, suddenly to see the child he had been working on protecting reach one hand up to touch his forehead in a groggy manner. Then, two sleepy teal eyes opened up, looking Ichimaru straight in the face, the entire body of the boy remaining relaxed and not reacting as if the person in front of him were an enemy.

But then realization hit the child about the situation that was going on and his eyes widened in shock, and then his mouth opened. When Gin saw this, he quickly moved so that his hand covered the boy's mouth, pulling him into his lap as he struggled in the only way the weak body could work. He held on tightly, hoping that Rangiku wouldn't find them.

The ones outside the room clashed about, and words could be heard. Finally, Rangiku spoke up, just as Ichimaru felt a few tears hit the hand clasped over the child's mouth. "Where is he?"

"You mean Toshiro?" Ichigo piped up. It was then that Toshiro managed to somehow bite down on Gin's hand, causing him to unfortunately let go.

"Matsumoto! Kurosaki!" At that, the small boy yelled at the top of his lungs, making Gin wince.

" _He STILL doesn't trust me?_ " However, the man paused when he suddenly heard Rangiku's zampaktuo release and he found himself suddenly pulling the boy underneath him, just as the ashes sliced through the door, causing them to fall in towards them, right on top of the two.


	17. Frightened Child

The white haired boy's body was tense when he called out for his mother and the substitute Soul Reaper. That in truth wasn't a good thing, as that drew Rangiku's attention to where the two of them were. The woman was known for her temper problem... actually, that was where Toshiro got his own eruptive ire.

As Gin held the young male in his arms, he heard the ash cutting through the traditional paper doors and he found himself suddenly pushing the child forward so that he was bent over in two, the silver haired man bent over on top of him, holding his son tightly in one arm, while he took his other arm and used it to brace the debris off the two of them.

There were a few shouts as someone, Ichimaru couldn't be sure, suddenly lifted the paper doors off of them, while Toshiro entire body shook. Matsumoto's voice could be heard. "Shiro-chan, I'm so sorry."

" _When you get pissed off, you so don't think things through._ " Gin stated, feeling the door lifted up off of him. " _If Chibi Taicho doesn't remember this world at all, he is not going to like_ _that_ _even if it is coming from Ran-chan here._ "

His words were soon confirmed as Toshiro moved, pushing himself up, his voice sounding frustrated. "Matsumoto, _you_ know I _hate_ that nickname."

"Sweet heart, why are you calling me by my maiden name?" The woman frowned, watching the boy carefully. "Actually, _how_ do you know my maiden name? I never told you?" At that, she glared at Ichimaru. "Did you?"

"How should I know." Gin hissed, watching as the boy's Adam's apple bobbed down.

Toshiro's eye's widened in horror, as he wiggled from Ichimaru's grasp. He moved away, his mouth opening, almost as if he had a question to ask, but then something else had occurred to him. " _Why_ can't I move my legs Matsumoto?"

"I wish you would stop calling me that." Rangiku sighed, her mouth twisting up with a rather characteristic pout. No, it wasn't like the busty female to show her darker side to the young child taicho if she could help it, or in this case her own child. She watched as Toshiro wiggled further away, his eyes showing an even greater deal of fear. "You haven't ever been able to walk."

"What do you mean?" At that, Toshiro's words snapped out as he used his arms to move himself away from the woman. " _No._ I think the better question that I need to ask is _who_ are you. You _aren't_ the Matsumoto I know."

"Sweet heart..." At that, Matsumoto was about to say those words, telling Toshiro the truth.

At that, Gin stood up, getting in between her, standing in her way and allowing the boy to move away from the woman. "Can't you see that Shiro-chan is scared of you Ran-chan."

"And whose fault is that! You are the one who took off with him. You _took_ him off the medicine. You _know_ what happens when you take him off his medicine!"

At that, the boy glanced at the silver haired man, his eyes wide with terror. "Ichimaru, _what_ is going on?" At that, he paused, glancing around the man. "No. I _can't_ trust you. Kurosaki?"

"It's not something I can easily explain Toshiro..." Ichigo stated, his mouth curling up, knowing full well that the tension was escalating. Soifon had knocked out Ganju and know had the orange haired teens arms locked behind him, her tight hold.

At that, the boy's head shook, then he glanced around. "Where is my zampaktuo?"

This caused Gin to pause, raising an eyebrow. Rangiku spoke up, a great deal of concern in her voice. "Little one, you _don't_ have a zampaktuo. Why would you..."

At that, the boy's face suddenly went blank. "I don't have. That isn't..." At that, the temperature in the room suddenly began to drop quickly. "Hy..."

Knowing full well what would happen if Toshiro said one more word, Ichimaru launched into action and lunged forward, covering the boy's mouth. He scooped the boy into his arms while he struggled. However, as Gin moved to leave the room, he found Rangiku in his path. Moving quickly, he loosened his grip slightly on the boy and used a quick, low level kido spell.

"Hyorin..." Toshiro tried again, only to have a hand slapped his mouth again. Gin got to the outside, and moved away from the structure. However, he found himself having to turn back around, as he heard a very angry voice.

"Gin! Put him down!" Rangiku stated, suddenly releasing her zampaktuo, which caused the ash to go flying at the man, cutting into his arm and side, causing him to have to loosen his grip on his son as he went down on one knee so that he wouldn't drop and hurt the boy.

"Don't say..." The man stated, only to have the boy yell as loud as possible.

"Hyorinmaru! Hyorinmaru!" At that, storm clouds began to gather, causing Rangiku to suddenly glance up at the sky as snow began to fall down.

Worry filled her eyes, and she turned her head to Ichimaru. "Gin... what the hell is going on?"

"You are the one who decided to tell him that he doesn't have a zampaktuo. You may not want to believe that there is another world Rangiku, but in _that_ world this kiddo _does_ have a zampaktuo, and it is no pussy cat." The silver haired man said this, right as a large ice dragon formed above him and his son, causing Rangiku's eyes to fill with fear.


	18. Ice Dragon

One of the things that made Hitsugaya Toshiro who he was in the other world was his constant want to control everything around him, so that nothing bad happened. Of course, in this world, everything was out of the child's hands and he found himself exploding with frustration and fear, among other feelings that simply wouldn't go away.

Thus he found himself trembling in the arms of a man he felt hard pressed to trust, a man whose mind was questionable due to the treachery he had been involved in. On top of this, the way that Matsumoto Rangiku looked at him told him that something was not right, no... that something was very wrong, and that his entire world would be shaken up.

That is what caused him to lose it, to call forth his zampaktuo. The fear that even those he trusted had turned against him. So, why not turn to the one person who had always been his friend, whose logic was never failing, never ceasing to amaze the young child. The one person who had always made the pain and hurt go away, once they had met, simply by speaking.

That dragon now towered over him and Ichimaru, and the boy glanced up, his teal eyes filled with a great deal of fear, but not at all towards the dragon above him. Sure, Hyorinmaru was dangerous, he was powerful, but that dragon was a part of him and was someone he had come to trust beyond everything and everything in his life.

At that, the dragon bent his nose downward, but didn't move any closer to the two males. Toshiro's body began to calm, and for some reason, he felt Ichimaru's own body calm upon seeing the dragon. This made no sense at all, due to the fact that the white haired boy thought of Gin as an enemy, not someone he could trust.

As the boy's mouth opened, something happened that he hadn't expected at all. He heard Rangiku's voice suddenly call out. "Roar, Haineko."

At that, the ashes cut across Hyorinmaru's nose, some freezing as they did so. But the effect was there, a large cut on the beasts nose that suddenly dripped blood down onto the two males. At that, Toshiro went back to panicking, as his best friend in the world was being hurt by someone he had come to know and trust. He felt his legs spasm painfully, while he clutched Ichimaru's arms so tightly, his nails dug it. "Hyorinmaru!"

"Rangiku! What the hell are you doing!" Gin spat out his words, not understanding why she was doing what she was doing. But then he saw the level of fright. " _Her first instinct is to protect her child at all costs._ " At that, the man glanced up at the dragon, speaking to him. "Hyorinmaru! Go back into the boy's inner world! Rangiku sees you as an enemy to him, not an ally!"

At that, a voice spoke up in Gin's head. " _Hyorinmaru was summoned here by the kid, he can only go back by the child's commands. Look at your son, silver hair! He can't even go to a humanoid form!_ "

This caused Ichimaru's eyes to dart down, to see the look of horror plastered on the young ones face, the mouth opened ajar as he saw something that to him was absolutely mortifying. At that, Ichimaru glanced back up, his hand going to his zampaktuo. "Rangiku! Stop this! Hyorinmaru isn't an enemy!"

" _I'll fight for the two of you and keep her attacks at bay until you can calm the little one down._ " Shinso appeared to the two males side, drawing his blade. "It doesn't matter if I use my abilities to my full extent anymore, because the reason you were keeping it secret no longer exists."

" _Don't_ hurt Ran-chan." Gin stated, watching the zampaktuo call out his attack, just as Rangiku launched hers. Instead of spreading in a blade like attack, it turned to dust, moving faster then Rangiku's ash could move, deflecting the next blow the woman sent towards the ice dragon. Ichimaru bent his head down, hissing into the boy's ear. "Toshiro... Shiro-chan, _you've_ got to call Hyorinmaru back into your inner world."

At that, the boy's mouth opened a couple of times, and then he squeaked out a few words as tears rolled down his cheeks. "I can't."

Shinso glanced back, having deflected a few more blows. "What is the matter with him! I thought Chibi Taicho was made of sterner stuff then this."

"Gin... I don't don't know what is going on, but I am seriously going to kill you when I'm done with whatever _that_ monster is." Rangiku stated, her words cold as the creature she was trying to attack. "Withdraw your zampaktuo!"

"Rangiku's... trying to kill Hyorinmaru?" At that, the child's face suddenly paled and he raised his hands to his ears and closed his eyes, letting out a scream of pain, despite the fact it wasn't him who was hurting. Ice began to spread farther and farther and spikes began to shoot up as the sobs came down. "I want to wake up!"

At that, Gin found himself shaking the boy hard. "Shiro-chan! You've got to snap out of this!"

The boy simply continued to cry, his sobs loud, knowing full well that a lot of things, more then before, were simply out of his control. A crunching sound was heard, as footsteps approached them, and a familiar voice to the child suddenly spoke up. "Shiro-chan? Toshiro-kun?"

At that, Toshiro's eyes snapped open, taking in the group of people in front of him, confusion spreading on his face. "Taicho? Tomo Atsuo? Shiba Kaien? All of you are supposed to be dead." Tears still fell down the boy's cheeks, but the ice began to melt away, and Hyorinmaru began to shrink, going to his humanoid form and then clattering to the ground in the form of a blade "I don't understand."

Shiba Isshin moved forward, his sister standing beside him and scooped the boy into his arms, taking him from Ichimaru carefully. "A lot of things are confusing, but you need to give the people around you time to explain things to you."

It was then that Isshin began to give out orders to those around him. "Kukuku, your specialty is with fire, so I would appreciate it if you can thaw out the area around us. Kaien, I want you to go down staris and surmise the damage that has been done to the home and take care of Soifon taicho. Tomo Atsuo, I assume that you can take care of Matsumoto Rangiku as she is also a fukutaicho."

The white haired child suddenly found himself bawling into the man's shoulder, gripping the shinigami robes tightly, taking in the familiar, not to mention safe smelling scent. At that, the man smiled. "Now, now Toshiro. You're just making me really wish I had children of my own. You're a lot tougher then this, aren't you?"


	19. Ice Breaker

How does the chaos become sanity? The chaos simply doesn't melt away, despite someone giving orders to do so. Isshin held onto the preteen, while Ichimaru was on the ground next to him, bleeding due to the wounds his own wife had given him. Truth of the matter was, Rangiku was distraught still, and Tomo Atsuo was having a rough time of things. The one thing that was all right, was the fact that Toshiro had finally calmed down.

As the ice melted around him, Isshin found himself stepping over to the small fray, and when he got close to where Rangiku had her sword crossed with the fukutaicho of the tenth, she turned to look at the eldest Shiba, her words coming out. "I don't understand. Why are you siding with Gin in this matter? He put our son's life in danger."

At that, Toshiro's held jerked up, and from the corner of his eye, the captain of the tenth division could see the confusion written all over the boy's face. He used his hand to tug on the man's clothing, indicating for the man to let him down. Isshin lowered the white haired youth, and knelt down so that the boy could sit on his knee, due to the fact his legs were to weak to stand on.

"Matsumoto... you aren't my mother." At this, the fighting between the two fukutaicho stopped and the one of the tenth withdrew his weapon.

Rangiku's eyes began to tear up. "Shiro-chan, please _don't_ do this to me too. I got enough of this from your father."

"Don't you realize that this is some sick game he's playing with you!" Toshiro snapped out. "I know full well that I _wasn't_ born in Soul Society. As much as I _want_ you to be my mother, that is impossible."

"I think it is time I actually come forward with a piece of truth, otherwise Shiro-chan will continue to think that everyone is against him." Gin stated, suddenly standing up as his own zampaktuo disappeared. He limped over to where Hyorinmaru lay on the ground, picked it up and walked over dropping it into Toshiro's lap. "Could we please go inside?"

At that, Rangiku folded her arms across her chest. "Understand, Ichimaru, I am not one bit happy with you."

With that, they headed down the stairs, where Kaien and Ichigo were trying to subdue Soifon without getting hit by her zampaktuo. Rangiku and Tomo Atsuo helped Gin down the stairs, his blood dripping onto the ground as he went. Kukaku, who had finished her duties outside let out a sharp whistle. "Soifon, do you _want_ me to tell Yourichi that you are tearing up my home?"

At that, the taicho of the second division stopped and came hurtling over to where the other woman was and bowed her head. "Lady Shiba! I am so sorry for the intrusion. I was trying to capture the ryoka who entered Soul Society without permission."

"Him? He's not a ryoka." Isshin stated. "Unfortunately, he's my son... albeit it is impossible for him to exist in this world, he's still family. Can't you see the resemblance between him and the other Shiba Taicho."

At that, Ichigo paused, turning his head to finally look at the male who stood in front of him. He blinked a couple of times. "Wait a second. You look like me."

At that, the male suddenly let out a laugh and pulled the substitute Soul Reaper into a headlock, suddenly rubbing his knuckles on the top of the teens orange head. "I think you mean you look like your uncle. Where did he get this color of hair from? I'm guessing his mother?"

At that, Toshiro blinked a couple of times as he was set down against the wall. He then tugged on Isshin's sleeve. "First question... you aren't really my taicho, are you?"

At that, the man let out a deep sigh. "Yes... and no. I am the person who you knew as your taicho, but in this world, I never got to be your taicho."

"Second question... this one is for Kurosaki." At that, the child genius hiked his thumb at Isshin. "He's your father?"

Ichigo blinked a couple of times, not noting the cracking of the white haired boy's voice. "Yeah... I was told that because my mom and dad didn't meet in this world, I'm actually not supposed to exist."

"That means your sister _Karin_ doesn't exist in this world?" At this, everyone simply looked at the horrified look on the child's face. "How can _you_ exist, while she can't?"

At that, the orange haired teen snapped out his words. "How the hell should I know Toshiro! That is one of the questions I've been asking myself!"

The boy simply looked at the ground, his face completely sullen about the entire matter. He then paused, his mind twisting around the information he was getting. " _Then..._ Isshin Taicho is the father of _Karin_."

At that, the boy's face suddenly paled, while his cheeks flushed red. The eldest Shiba let out a deep sigh. "For some reason, I don't want to know where your mind is going."

"Chibi Taicho tends to think in worse case scenarios. He's been that way really since he was a child." Gin stated, as he was set down and the healing process begun.

"How the hell would you know?" Toshiro muttered, folding his arms across his chest. "I _don't_ trust you."

"Well, I've heard his story, I think he should explain things to us, about his side of things from the other world." Isshin stated.

The small child protested though. "He turned against all of us! He _helped_ Aizen."

"Actually..." Ichigo piped up at that point in time. "If he was really a bad guy, I would have been dead a lot sooner. I crossed swords with him a second time, and there was no desire to kill me."

" _What_ does that have to do with anything Kurosaki?" Toshiro spat out his words.

"He's talking about the fact I was playing double agent the whole time kiddo." Gin stated, watching as the boy's eyes went wide. "The secret I've been keeping, well... I had been planning on killing Aizen and stopping him _even_ before I entered the academy, and look what good that did."

"I don't understand." The boy shrunk back to the one place of security, leaning up against the eldest Shiba.

This caused Gin to let out a deep sigh. "The truth is, when I was around your age, I lived to the north peacefully with Rangiku. We went there to get away from the West Rukon district, because there were bad memories."

"I remember that. We came back because we found out that we couldn't take care of a child on your own, which is why we came to stay with your mother." The busty female stated, only to receive a glare from her husband, and a look of utter horror from Toshiro.

"Don't pay her any mind Shiro-chan. Focus on what I am saying here." Ichimaru stated, quickly pointing a finger at his chest. "Well, one day. Rangiku was attacked by some of Aizen's thugs. They took something from her, and Aizen put it into the hogyoku."

At that, the boy found his body suddenly tensing up, his hands tightening around Isshin's uniform to the point his knuckles turned white. Gin continued though. "What Rangiku lost was the precious memories we had. She forgot everything but her name, which is why I told her my name was Ichimaru Gin. I wasn't the only person she forgot though."

"If it had been just myself, I likely could have lived without worrying about getting her memories back. But she forgot who our child was." Ichimaru watched Toshiro carefully, and then spoke up quietly. "I took you, placed you in the care of my mother, knowing full well that you would be well taken care of. I dropped off money every so often..."

At that, the temperature in the room dropped. Two bright teal eyes darted up, looking the man straight in the face. "How could you! How could you make me think, all this time that I wasn't born in Soul Society! Hell, how could you make me think that I had parents who didn't care about me at all! Do you care at all, Ichimaru?"

At that, the man gave him a weak smile. "In hind sight, I could have possibly gotten Rangiku accumulated to the idea that she was a mother, but I was a child and thought in childish ways, including the now. I wanted the problem fixed and what I thought was the solution, wasn't the solution. By the time I had gotten in, keeping you out of Aizen's hands became another priority. Yell all you want at me, because I know I deserve it."

However, the small taicho simple shut his mouth, his cheeks puffing out in anger while he glared at the man. Rangiku though poked at the wound, causing Gin to yelp. "I _think_ this is better punishment. I don't understand this _other_ world stuff. Why all of this?"

"The hogyoku grants wishes." Isshin stated. "It grants wishes only to twist them around into something a person really doesn't want."

"For example?" Kaien spoke up.

"For example, my wish was to finally be a family with Ran-chan and Shiro-chan." Gin stated, spitting out his words. "I got this in this world, but at what cost? The kid asked me earlier, what I had done to his legs. Well, his inability to walk, and his need to learn to walk now is the fault of my wish."

At that, Ichigo glanced at the ceiling. "I wanted to protect everyone, no matter what the cost. The cost was, I get to exist in this world, but my sisters don't."

At that, Toshiro found himself swallowing, as his mind was thinking. Gin tilted his head towards Rangiku. "I always knew, once she found you in the Rukongai, that she wanted to be the best mother figure to you, no longer drinking. She didn't know you were her own, but she had that feeling. Well... truth is, she became a great mother, but in this world she became over protective, stifling you."

At that, the woman elbowed Gin in the ribs and hissed into his ear. "What was that for?"

"You do realize that he made a wish too?" The male hissed back.

"I likely made the wish of being here, in my position as a captain. I was likely thinking about what happened to Toshiro during the battle, and he was my fukutaicho, not to mention what happened to the fukutaicho I had now. And then there was the fact I couldn' stop my own brother's death. Each of us has something we wanted gone/"

At that, Toshiro bent his head down, a few tears falling onto his hands, which had finally losened from Isshin's clothing. "I wished I could forget hurting Hinamori like I did. I ended up forgetting everything, and now I don't know where she is. I don't know how much my wish effected her."

Suddenly, Gin moved away from the two other fukutaicho, despite the fact he was still in need of healing. He placed a hand on Toshiro's head. "I think Hinamori wished to be with her mom and dad, so they are alive in this world."

"But that seems like a good wish." The boy stated, glancing at the ground.

"She forgot about us..." Ichimaru stated.

"That is still a good wish and sounds like something she would want!" Toshiro stated, looking up, his face twisted due to his frustration. "I _know_ you're lying to me. You know exactly where she is, and you know that it was my stupid wish that got her into that situation."

"I refuse to tell you." Ichimaru stated rather coldly. "There is no point in making you worry."

"I'll worry anyways!" Toshiro stated, the room temperature dropping again.


	20. What About Momo?

The temperature continued to drop, while two bright eyes looked two pale ones straight in the eye. "Please... Ichimaru..."

At that, Gin simply frowned at the boy. He then spoke up carefully and methodically. "Shiro-chan knows Hinamori very well. What do you think her wish would be?"

Toshiro's eyes blinked a couple of times, and then his head darted down. "Hinamori's with Aizen, isn't she? She's able to give herself to him completely, like she's always wanted to do. I guess she also wanted to forget about all of us, not that I really can blame her, considering what I did to her in the other world."

"Don't worry," Ichimaru spoke up, a smile playing across his face. "I'll think of some way to bring Hinamori home."

"Why?" The boy spoke up, his tone rather dry.

"Because she's family..." Gin stated.

" _It isn't as if you like your niece._ " Shinso spoke up, much to Ichimaru's irritation.

To which the silver haired man quickly responded. " _She's still_ _that_ _sister's child._ "

"Didn't Hinamori get the wish she wanted?" The white haired youth's mouth was twisted up. "I don't want to hurt her anymore... and if this is what she wanted..."

This caused Ichimaru's jaw to drop as he was completely unused to this particular child shying away from what he wanted. But then, Toshiro had always had a way of putting others before himself. Gin frowned at this. "You do understand what it means to give yourself to someone completely, don't you?"

"It means that you would be willing to do anything for someone, kind of like what you did for my and Rangiku." The boy stated, causing a vein to pop on Gin's forehead.

" _I don't think he understands that giving oneself completely can also involve becoming someones sexual toy. Do you_ _really_ _want to explain_ _that_ _one to him? I mean, he is rather young."_ His zampaktuo chimed in, causing Ichimaru a great deal of frustration.

Isshin managed to come to the fukutaicho of the fifth's rescue. "Don't you remember how the wishes get twisted around to be something we don't want it to be?"

At that, the small boy paused. "How long will it take me to learn to walk?"

The eldest Shiba shook his head. "That is going to require a lot of physical therapy."

"One week." Toshiro stated flat out, his face filled with a great level of stubbornness.

At that, Kaien laughed. "One week what?"

"In one week, I'm going to be able to walk again and I am going to go rescue Hinamori." The boy stated.

"Toshiro, I don't think that is possible." Ichigo sighed.

The response was more stubbornness, not to mention a horrified look on Rangiku's face. "I'll do it."

"Well, the first step to getting to the point is for you to get some rest." Isshin stated, using the fact that the boy trusted him to his advantage.

Rangiku came and scooped up the boy into her arms, frowning at the males in the room. "How is it that he can act so childish, yet have been a taicho in the other world."

"Matsumoto!" The complaint came as she followed Kukaku away to a guest room.

"Well, some things never changed. His idea of what he is able to do with that small body of his has always put him in harms way." Ichimaru stated, placing a hand on his forehead and pinching his brow.

"One week though?" Kaien shook his head while Soifon watched. "That isn't possible, is it?"

"Honestly, I don't think it is." Isshin stated, touching his chin lightly.

"Not to mention we don't have a week." Ichimaru stated, spitting out his words. "For all I know, Aizen has already done something to Momo-chan that can't be taken back"

"Are you speaking of Hinamori Momo?" Soifon asked, her voice monotone. "Aizen is planning on making her one of his wives tomorrow. They'll be a huge ceremony tomorrow."

This caused Gin to flinch. "I don't care if any of you help me with this, but I am going to go and kill that bastard tomorrow and get my niece back. She should never have been sold like that, but honestly... it doesn't surprise me that one of my older brothers would do something like that to family. That is just the way they always were."

"I'll go with you." Ichigo stated, but no one else voiced their thoughts right away.

Finally, Isshin spoke up. "I'll see if I can't get some help from some other places. I don't know if we'll be able to come up with a plan though."

"That is something I specialize in." The orange haired teens words caused quite a few to wince as they heard his next words. "I've gone into battle all the time without a plan."

At that, Ganju sat up, confusion on his face. "What is going on?"


	21. Depressing Words

After speaking with the other males, Ichimaru went to the back area of the home, looking for Rangiku and Toshiro, his mind filled with a great deal of frustration. He found the room rather quickly, just in time for to find the two looking at each other without saying anything. The man spoke up. "Is something wrong."

"He won't speak with me." The woman sighed, turning to her husband.

"Did you say anything to him?" Gin stated, watching her carefully.

Rangiku frowned. "All I did was hug him to my chest and he tried pulling away. I tried asking him what the matter was, and he hasn't said a word."

Ichimaru went and sat down at the edge of the futon, the opposite of where the busty female sat, his back to both of them. "Well, aren't you going to tell her what is bothering you?"

"I find Matsumoto's hugs embarrassing." Toshiro stated, glancing at his feet.

The woman of course had to protest the matter. "I'm your mother. What is so embarrassing about me hugging you?"

"All that knowledge does is make the whole situation even _more_ embarrassing." The boy stated, folding his arms across his chest in protest.

"I don't understand. You're a little kid." Rangiku let out a deep sigh, her eyes showing the obvious ache in her heart.

At that, Toshiro's eyes suddenly darkened. "Woman, I don't care if you _are_ my mother, I am not a kid."

This caused Ichimaru to turn slightly to hit the boy with the side of his head. " _What_ was that for?"

"She's your mother. I honestly _don't_ care if you use insults with me, Chibi Taicho, because I honestly deserve it, but _don't_ you disrespect her. You could have said that much better." Gin stated, watching the boy carefully.

Two bright eyes turned to look him straight in the face. "Ichimaru..."

"Yes." The silver haired man carefully placed an hand on the top of the boy's head.

Hitsugaya took a deep breath. "If Aizen is killed, will the world go back to the way it is supposed to be?"

This caused the man to pause. "I think so."

The boy simply frowned at him. "But you don't know if it will go back to being the way it was. What is going to happen if you or I kill him, and the world doesn't go back to the way it was?"

Ichimaru suddenly leaned over, his shoulder touching his son's. "Don't worry."

" _Answer_ my question." Toshiro spoke out. "Wouldn't that be considered a crime against soul society?"

"Yes. It would be." Gin stated, glancing away. "Truth of the matter is, we aren't going to give you the chance to get your legs back. It isn't that I don't want you walking, but I don't want you in this mess. I know that my actions in the past will make it so that you won't believe this, but you are the last person I want ever getting hurt."

"That isn't..." However, the child clamped his mouth shut in frustration.

Rangiku had been listening in on the conversation, then placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'll speak with him. Get some sleep."

At that, she stood up and Gin followed her out of the room, frustration on his face. "You think I was wrong for saying what I did?"

"I don't think you are understanding his feelings." The busty female folded her arms. "I couldn't help but notice, this Toshiro is not as open with his feelings as the child I know. I don't like it, but that said... I don't think he is able to tell you that he is honestly worried about you. He just found out that you and I are his parents. He didn't _get_ the time the other Toshiro had in this world with you."

The woman sighed. "He's wondering if you're throwing him away. No, he's wondering if you're throwing him away again. I know that you honestly mean for his best interest here and you are trying to protect him. You talk about me being the over protective parent, but I honestly think that it actually goes for you too."

Still, Rangiku continued. "Keeping him alive and safe, that isn't the only thing a parent should worry about. In my pursuit in keeping him inside and safe, I forgot that he wasn't happy. How do you think he will feel if you get killed, or if you are suddenly being tried for treason? May I remind you, he just found out that you are his father, and that father actually loves him a great deal."

Ichimaru didn't speak to her, but instead turned to leave, her words burning into his mind.


	22. Infiltration

Everything felt like it was going to smoothly. Ichimaru felt that as soon as he got near the place where his niece was being kept, and he felt a tug of dread running through his body, as if something was bound and determined to go wrong. However, the silver haired man didn't want to think along those lines, as he knew letting ones feelings get in the way could be counter productive.

Turned out, Isshin had been able to gather a storm. There were a few people who had never believed that Yourichi and Urahara had killed those particular people. Each had their own reasons for believing what they did, but the numbers had proven to be helpful in the fact that they had been able to get as far as they did, so maybe that was why there was that feeling of easiness.

Of course, the entire Shiba clan had chosen to join in. There was the eldest brother Isshin, not to mention the substitute Soul Reaper. Kaien showed up with his wife, while Kukaku dragged along the idiot of the family. They were followed closely by their two main supporters as they stormed the place, and Kukaku and Kaien had drawn in the giant of the west to hold the gate open for them.

And then there was Unohana and Ukitake, who came back from retirement. One could only guess what their wish had been, and what the captain's who had died had been, but it likely had been some guilt carried about not protecting the young ones. That was always how they had been, their purpose set towards watching the younger generation.

On top of this, Hanataro showed up with his brother and his sister-in-law, not so much for a fighting counter on their regard, but to make sure that all injuries were taken care of. In the long run, things were going smoothly, but they were also going slow. Tomorrow was the deadline, as that would be the day Aizen would marry Hinamori Momo.

As the sun set over the horizon, Gin moved into the room that Soifon had told him Hinamori was in. She wasn't fighting along side them, but willingly gave them information that they needed, staying in the shadows in case she was needed at the last minute. Ichimaru glanced around, then saw Momo sitting on a futon, staring out the window.

"Hinamori?" Ichimaru spoke up, watching the small female as she suddenly looked up at him.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice monotone.

This caused the man to let out a deep sigh. "I've come to get you out of here."

"Why?" The female looked at him with a blank stare.

Gin moved in a little closer. "Because we are family."

"Family abandoned me. It was my uncle who sold me to Aizen." The girl stated, her eyes remaining blank. "I was an infant when it happened."

Ichimaru held out his hand. "I'm not that uncle. I wouldn't have made that choice."

At that, Momo paused, the her lips pushed together. "Why didn't you stop him then?

"The honest truth is, I was a child at the time. I couldn't do anything about it then, and I've been trying to figure out the best time to move to get you out of here." Gin stated, holding out his hand, hopeful that things would work out. What he said didn't feel like a lie, as he _had_ in the other world been waiting for a time to get at Aizen. The man wasn't one to trifle with.

The small female stood up and walked over to the man, taking his hand. Ichimaru then began to lead her out, hoping full well that things would go all right. However, when he tried to turn a corner, he saw Aizen. What he saw, caused him to step out, making himself and Momo vulnerable. Ichimaru spoke up coldly. "Are you trying to use an illusion on me?"

However, he suddenly felt Hinamori let go of his hand, and then he felt the blade of Toibume going through his stomach. Glancing downward, he blinked a couple of times, before ending up in his inner world for a few seconds. What he saw bothered him greatly, as he felt that all his power was now gone. For, all the pools were empty, meaning in this world he hadn't been able to keep back his emotions.

Shinsou came and shoved him hard. "You've got to get back there. This isn't the time to allow your niece stabbing you in the back as a deterrent from stopping Aizen."

However, Ichimaru couldn't come back easily like his zampaktuo wanted. "What is going to happen to Toshiro and Rangiku if killing Aizen doesn't turn the world back to normal? Truth is, Rangiku was right. I've been over protective of that child, trying to keep him from danger, only for him to end up in danger."

"If you don't go back, _what_ will happen to them?" His zampaktuo hissed.

At that, Ichimaru found himself plummeting back to the world and he was looking Aizen straight in the face, blood dripping down his lip. He then opened up his mouth. "Why?"

"Aizen-sama raised me since I was a baby. It goes without saying who my family is." Hinamori stated, her voice cold.

"No... that's not what I meant." Gin's pale teal eyes went to look at the hostage that Aizen held in his arms, frustration growing, as it turned out that the situation wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. There was always a miscalculation to his plans, and Aizen had of course found it and used it to further his own.


	23. Against the Plan

Back at the Shiba household, Rangiku was deep under ground watching her son sleep peacefully. Her mind wasn't focused on the task at hand, due to the fact that she had this dreadful feeling eating away at her. She reached her hand out to brush away the child's lock of hair, then let out a deep breath. While she honestly wished that she had the innocent one back, she feared that she would go back to coddling that particular child.

A loud sound was heard from the entrance, and then she stood up to see what was going on, because she got a bad feeling. A few minutes after she left, Hitsugaya Toshiro woke up, stirring from his sleep and also realizing that something was wrong. He pushed the covers away, pausing when he remembered that he had limited mobility.

The door open and he glanced up to see who opened, only to have his jaw drop. His bright teal eyes suddenly filled with fear as the man stepped into the room and walked over to him. Toshiro squeaked the name out, knowing full well that he was in trouble. "Aizen!" He then opened his mouth loudly. "Matsumoto!"

The man simply laughed at him and came closer. "Matsumoto Rangiku, or Hitsugaya Rangiku as she is known in this world can't here you. Do you know how surprised I was when I found out that you were Gin's child? A lot of things made sense to me after I found out. I mean, why would someone go through all the trouble of trying to kill me, unless there is some deep motive."

The boy swallowed hard, glancing around for his zampaktuo, only to see that it was propped up against the door way. Aizen stepped over and then reached down and grabbed the front of the boy's under kimono, lifting him up off the ground, his legs hanging limp and useless below him. Toshiro grabbed the man's arm and tried biting down on the man's hand.

This of course, only caused him to be slapped hard across the face and then shaken roughly, his head jarring back and forth. When Aizen stopped, he spoke up again. "Do you want me to shake you again? You may be very intelligent for your age, but that doesn't change the fact that your brain is still developing, and one wrong injury could ruin everything for you."

At that, Toshiro swallowed again and found himself thrown over the man's shoulder, while the man stepped aside. Rangiku suddenly came back into the room, and the boy tried calling to her. "Matsumoto Help!"

However, the woman simply passed them by and walked over to the bed and sat down at the edge. "Go back to sleep Toshiro. There was a noise outside, but it turns out some pots in the kitchen fell over."

"Rangiku..." A whimper escaped Toshiro's mouth as he watched the woman.

Aizen chuckled. "Didn't I tell you that she couldn't hear you? Did you _honestly_ forget what my power was?"

The boy began to struggle, only to find the task impossible with his legs only able to twitch weakly. The man simply began to walk out of the room and out of the Shiba residence, just as Toshiro's head dropped from defeat. The man remained gentle with how he carried the boy, and eventually they got deep into Soul Society, where Aizen dropped the boy roughly. "Do you know how I found you?"

At that, Toshiro swallowed, glancing at his bare feet, knowing full well that nobody was going to come to his rescue. He pulled his legs up to his chest then. "I don't know."

"Oh come now, Hitsugaya-kun. You are a very intelligent child. You are, after all, _his_ child." Aizen let out a laugh, suddenly nudging the boy in the hip area.

"Maybe I take after him in looks only. Maybe my intelligence is like Matsumoto Rangiku's." Toshiro muttered, trying to figure out what was best to do in this situation.

At that, the brown haired man lifted up his foot and placed it under the boy's chin, forcing him to suddenly look up at him. He could see the fear that was in the bright teal eyes, despite the fact there was the will to fight. "Now, little one... you and I both know that Rangiku's idiocracy is just a facade she puts up with everyone, just like your father has his own mask. We both know that she is intelligent enough to be a captain."

The man then smirked at the white haired boy. "Maybe you don't want to admit that, because you are afraid that she will become a captain now that there are three vacancies back in the original world. You are scared that she'll leave you behind, just like your parents did. But now you've found out that you are going to be abandoned by your parent again, which makes it worse."

"Rangiku would never abandon me!" The boy suddenly snapped out, a few tears coming down his cheeks unwillingly.

"Your reaction says otherwise." Aizen stated firmly. "Now, Hitsugaya-kun. Tell me how I found you."

"When I lost it, you could feel my spiritual pressure, even from all the way over here. If not, you likely received reports about a storm gathering in a particular area. It goes without saying that one of the traits of my zampaktuo is that the weather changes when I use my abilities." Toshiro stated, then found the foot being removed from his chin.

"Good boy." The man glanced down at the boy. "You never did trust me, just like your father never did." He watched as Toshiro suddenly flinched. "You don't like the fact that Gin is your father and that you two are so similar?"

The white haired child spoke what the thought, knowing full well that Aizen would push him to answer things further. "I always noticed that we had similarities, despite the fact I used to not like that. I flinched because I just realized I _had_ never trusted you. I never distrusted Gin or disliked being around him, but I never liked being around you. You are a monster."

At that, Aizen leveled a nice kick into Toshiro's ribs, causing the boy to gasp out. "I'll be back for you. I need you for something." Time passed, and eventually, the man did come back. "It is time to make my own move, Hitsugaya-kun."

The boy found himself scooped up into the man's arms, as he moved out of the room and down the hall way. The boy felt his lower limbs hang lose while he hung onto the man's arms, glancing at the ground not wanting the fear in his eyes to be seen. There were footsteps coming from one of the side directions, approaching them.

"Are you trying to use an illusion on me?" At that, Toshiro's head darted up, recognizing the voice of the silver haired man. He saw that Hinamori was holding onto Gin's hand. That didn't last long, and the next thing the boy knew, his eyes were widening in horror as Momo's zampaktuo pierced Ichimaru, much like Hyorinmaru had once pierced her.

The boy's breath came in gasps as he tried to suddenly struggle, only to be thumped on the head by Aizen's free hand. Not being able to move was a pain. Gin's eyes glazed over for a short period of time, but then he came back too. "Why?"

"Aizen-sama raised me since I was a baby. It goes without saying who my family is." The words she spoke caused the small white haired child to choke out in frustration.

"No... that's not what I meant." Ichimaru's reiatsu suddenly flared up dangerously, his eyes looking straight at Toshiro.


	24. Protect the Child

"No... that's not what I meant." The silver haired man stated firmly.

This caused Aizen to let out a laugh. "No. You know full well why Hinamori turned on you, despite the fact that you are family and wanted to rescue you. You want to know why I went out of the way to go and get your son? Or are you wondering why I am using an illusion of him, holding him in front of me? I know your one true weakness in this world, Ichimaru, one that I didn't in the other."

Gin made no move towards the other adult male, but instead placed his hand on the blade that was protruding from his body, trying to think what he should do to get out of this situation. He then let out a deep breath, frustrated that the situation would have turned out the way it had. "I can't risk that he isn't an illusion, and you know that."

At that, two bright teal eyes suddenly went wide with shock. The mouth moved and words that only Toshiro could think of speaking suddenly bubbled out. "I'm an illusion! Just attack him! Please!"

This caused Gin to pause suddenly, a smirk suddenly spreading on his face. He thought back to the conversation that he and Rangiku had before, about how he had always chosen the over protective path when it came to their son, the one that would always guarantee that they were alive. He drew his blade, watching as Aizen suddenly raised an eyebrow.

However, before he could make a move, the substitute shinigami came hurtling around the corner. "What are you doing? You can't attack him now! Are you as blind as when Toshiro accidentally hurt Momo? Aizen is holding him right there."

"I don't know _what_ you're talking about Kurosaki. I _am_ an illusion." The boy stated firmly.

" _Very_ funny Toshiro. You and I both know that I never saw that guys Shikai." The substitute shinigami stated, suddenly yanking Hinamori away from her blade and thumping her hard on the head. "And you. Why did you attack your own family?"

"My only family is Aizen." Hinamori stated firmly. "My real family abandoned me a long time ago."

"Baka. One person in your family abandoned you to this monster, not all of them. Why else do you think that someone from your family came to get you?" Ichigo stated, pointing a finger at Aizen. "A person who is really family would never ask you to hurt family that has shown they do in fact cared. He's manipulating you."

"Shut up Kurosaki." Ichimaru span out. "You honestly aren't helping. _Kamishini no Yari_ ,"

The man then went to a stance to release his blade, causing Ichigo to suddenly fluster up. "What the hell do you think you're doing! I told _you_ , that _isn't_ an illusion!"

However, the man's blade went off, suddenly shooting forward and cutting through Toshiro's right shoulder and into Aizen. As the blade retracted, the man dropped the boy to the ground, anger written all over his face as he made to back off away from Gin. "Oh, I know full well it isn't an illusion."

Gin moved forward, then shunpooed past the small boy, shoving Aizen backwards, clashing his blade with the man's. He could hear Toshiro speaking to Kurosaki, including a word he never thought he would hear. "Please, Kurosaki. Stop my oto-san from doing something stupid."

Ichimaru lifted up his hand. "The twist on your wish... it was that you couldn't use your zampaktuo on people from the other world. _Korose, Kamishini no Yari._ "

Aizen simply glowered at Ichimaru, while his body dissolved. He then raised his hand up. "I am not going to let you kill me off, without having you die with me here. The man raised up his hand and aimed a spell at Gin's head, shooting it off, just as Ichimaru heard both the substitute shinigami and Toshiro screaming at him. And then, there was a great deal of pain.

_Author's note – I lost track of how much I've written, but then I've noticed that the count on my word document is off from the sites though. Anyways, someone asked "Weren't Ichimaru and Toshiro in completely different places?" Aizen had enough time to go and get Toshiro due to how long it was taking everyone to infiltrate._


	25. Back in Inner World

Time clicked away in the deep blackness that followed. Ichimaru found himself coming to his senses, if one could really call it coming to his senses. The silver haired man found himself on his back, staring up at the ceiling of his inner world, while the poisonous water dripped downward towards the pools below.

Sitting up, his body feeling heavy, he glanced at the water, raising an eyebrow to find that they were filled with a crystal clear water. Sure, the poison dripped down, but the water remained clear and free of impurities. He took a deep breath and then spoke up. "What happened Shinso? Did I die again, just like I did in the other world?"

At that, his zampaktuo came forward, his feet beating a rhythm against the floor. "I hate to say this, but despite your vast intelligence, you are the biggest fool I know. The only person who is likely close, at the same level or surpass you would be your own son."

"God... he does take after me, doesn't he?" Gin muttered, removing his sandals and socks and dipping his feet into the cold water. "I always thought he only took after me in looks Shinso, and that he was personality wise his mother's child. Then again, I never tried interacting with him like I did just now, trying to think inside that small mind of his."

"Are you sure what you've done is the right thing?" Shinso stated, folding his arms across his chest. "Are you sure that giving your life up, sacrificing yourself is the best thing?"

Suddenly, a laugh came from Gin's lips. "Is it the right thing? I honestly don't think there is any black and white to this, though I used to think that there was."

The zampaktuo spirit joined him, sitting down at the pools edge, watching carefully. "I don't think that is the only thing that has changed, has it?"

"I thought that it was only Rangiku who was aching deep down to love on our child. I saw it with the way she acted around him, how she somehow knew that he was hers. I think now, I was the one hurting the most, because I _knew_ that we were supposed to be family and it wasn't some subliminal thing. I _knew_ that we were family, but couldn't be together. The just _felt_ that we were."

"If you were to do things over, would you?" The zampaktuo asked.

"No." The answer came rather quickly. "First off, I don't believe I deserve a second chance. Second, I think I would make the same decision as I did before. I believe with all my heart, if Aizen knew that special child was mine, he would have taken it and crushed it."

At that, Ichimaru paused for a few seconds. "In truth, what I wanted wasn't for Toshiro to live. I wanted him to be happy and free, but I've never found the answer for that one. I haven't seen a smile on his face since I walked out of his life completely, when I thought he would be to young to remember. Every which way he's turned, life has been cruel to him."

"Let me rephrase that. If you had a chance to spend the rest of your life with your son, whether it be the old world or new, would you take it?" The zampaktuo asked, waiting carefully.

"Yes. I would take it. There is this desire deep down, to make sure that he is all right." Gin sighed, glancing up at the ceiling.

Eventually, he glanced down, and a ripple pinged on the surface of the water. The voice was of Hisagi Shuhei. " _He's not going to wake up anytime soon Rangiku._ "

The silver haired man leaned in closely, confusion spreading on his face. " _I don't care if it takes forever, I'll wait for him to wake up._ "

" _Hisagi Fukutaicho, you really need to back off on this issue._ " Toshiro's voice suddenly spoke up, firmly telling the other off. " _This is really none of your business you know._ "

" _I don't see how it is any of yours Hitsugaya Taicho, yet you are also here. If you can be concerned about Matsumoto, then other people can too. Ichimaru Gin isn't the best person out there, you know._ "

" _Please_ _back off._ " The boy snapped the words out.

" _Hey, taicho... that dream you had..._ " Rangiku suddenly piped up.

" _It was just that Matsumoto, a dream._ " The boy stated, just as Shinso gave Gin a hard push into the pool of water.

Ichimaru found himself blinking a couple of times, and then he opened up his eyes. He saw two familiar faces, that of Matsumoto Rangiku and Hisagi Shuhei. The other face had bright teal eyes and white hair, but Gin found himself blinking a couple of times, as this person didn't look like the Hitsugaya Toshiro he knew so well.

However, the two eyes darted to the man's face. "He's actually waking up. Someone go and get Unohana Taicho." However, before he could wake up, he fell back under, his body not able to take staying awake any longer.


	26. To Have the World

Ichimaru found himself waking up again. Sitting to his left side was a young boy with white hair and teal eyes, bright and filled with a great deal of life. This time around, he had more energy and could remain awake. However, while the person looked strangely familiar, something felt off about the boy.

Finally, he placed his mind on the problem.

"Shiro-chan?" The silver haired man spoke up.

"Yes?" The boy stated, moving his hand to touch the man's shoulder.

"What the hell did you do to your hair? It's changed since I last saw it." The man stated, frowning at the boy.

" _That_ is the first thing you _want_ to talk to me about when you wake up?" The boy suddenly had his own frown plastered across his face. "So _what_ if I did decide to change my hair style while you've been comatose. It _has_ been a long time you know."

Ichimaru let out a deep sigh. "I wasn't sure if I had woken up in another alternate world or not."

"That would be interesting, wouldn't it. Instead of a world where I am captain like this one, or a world where I couldn't walk, what kind of world do you think you would be in this time?" The boy stated firmly.

"Then the dream you were talking about with Rangiku wasn't a dream, was it." Gin stated, watching the boy carefully.

Suddenly, two bright teal eyes glanced away. "A little after the Winter War, I made myself really sick and lowered my immune system so that I was asleep for a couple of weeks. I at first thought it was just a simple dream, but then I found out things that I had learned things that I shouldn't have known. Like the fact that Ichigo's my former taicho's son."

"About the truth between you and Rangiku..." The man watched the boy carefully.

"The only person I've told was Unohana Taicho, and she's only told Yamamoto and he only told the forty-six. They thought it was some big joke that had come about because I was sick, but Unohana requested a DNA test be done which confirmed the fact you were my father. "

A wistful look spread across Ichimaru's face. "I guess when I get better, I am going to go on trial."

"When you get better, you'll be facing your official acquittal of all charges against you." The boy suddenly turned back, and to the man's surprise, he had a smile on his face. "Some people believe you were pardoned because you were a child, like Ukitake and Kyoraku Taicho. Others believe it was done because you planned on turning on Aizen the whole time, like oka-san."

Gin shook his head at the boy. "Shiro-chan, Soul Society doesn't work that way. They don't just hand acquittals like this."

"Soul Society has changed because of Kurosaki." Toshiro still smirked at Ichimaru, as if he found the entire situation hilarious. "I honestly believe this to be true, because the reason they acquitted you was because you were trying to protect your family and your actions reflect this."

"That is true... but..." Gin suddenly closed his eyes in frustration. "Now I _really_ think I am dreaming."

"Rangiku doesn't know about me being the two of your child. I sent her back to the tenth division to rest, because I was hoping to speak with you before you spoke with her. I think you are the person to tell her. I had thought about telling her first, because we all thought you were dead, but Unohana had been keeping you here because the forty-six was still deciding your fate. So, my plans changed."

The silver haired man let out a deep sigh. "Would you be willing to help me sit up?"

To his surprise, the boy quickly complied, though it was honestly a struggle for him to help the man to sit back up. The boy then rattled off some more. "Unohana wasn't sure if you would be waking up. She reattached my limbs from when Aizen cut me with his blade, but she never had to work with the mangled mess. She really didn't want to let Rangiku know that you were still alive, because she had already made it clear she had said goodbye."

"Let me guess. She let you know that I was comatose because you hadn't had a chance to say goodbye." Ichimaru shook his head, his body completely weak, his hand wanting to reach up the now strange head of hair.

"I wasn't going to say goodbye. I told her that you would get better in one week, tops." Toshiro bubbled out.

"You do realize that is impossible, right?" Ichimaru sighed.

"I know it is now." The boy stated. "While I woke up soon after you killed Aizen, I kept going back at night when I slept for awhile. Momo's living in that world, but not herself. You became blind from the attack Aizen used on you, and you slipped between this worlds memories and that. Ichigo disappeared... and no... I doubt he will remember, because this is Kurosaki we are talking about."

"I like how you've grown up." Gin stated, a true smile suddenly spreading across his face. "I like how you are bubbling over with energy and more open to the things going on around you."

"I get that trait from my mother actually." The boy's smile suddenly grew. "I _don't_ drink like she does and I doubt I'll pick it up."

"What about Ichigo's sister?" The next question caused a sudden change.

"Karin and I are _not_ dating." Toshiro's face fell into a deep frown.

Ichimaru shook his head. "Where did _that_ one come from? I was simply curious to know what kind of friendship you have with her. You never were able to make friend easily."

"She's easy to be friends with." Hitsugaya's face suddenly brightened up. "When I go to the world of the living, she invites me to play soccer with her and her other friends. She's also invited me, when Kurosaki still had his powers, to come and stay at their place while I was in the living room. Their sister Yuzu is kind of... I know Isshin Taicho was... is weird, but I think she takes the cake."

Gin let out a laugh. "Looks like I am going to have to tell Rangiku the truth, huh?"

Toshiro opened up his mouth to say something, only for both males to suddenly freeze, the looks on the face knowing full well that they didn't want to deal with an angry female. "Tell me the truth about what?"


End file.
